The Diamond Pursuit
by peach83
Summary: JK.Jessie is the nononsense,tough and fierce,sexy,brilliant,pretty,with deceptively innocent looks, new captain of the DEBS,while Katie is the cleanslated halfsister of supervillain Lucy Diamond.Once and AgainDEBS crossover.
1. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

**THE DIAMOND PURSUIT**

By peach83

**DISCLAIMER: **Sadly, Jessie and Katie belong to the creators of Once & Again and ABC, while Amy Bradshaw, Lucy Diamond, and the rest of the DEBS are the wonderful creation of Angela Robinson. I don't claim ownership and I'm just borrowing.

**A/N: **This is an AU fanfic of Jessie and Katie, with a DEBS twist (damn, I love that movie!). So, if you haven't seen DEBS, you better watch it now. Apparently, this is a Once & Again and DEBS cross-over. I've always said that sometimes I borrow some ideas from other author's fanfiction for consistency reasons, but this time I really had to change Jessie's name from Jessie Elizabeth to Jessica. I thought it fits the story more.

**SYNOPSIS: **When DEBS Perfect Score Amy Bradshaw gave up her bright future with the DEBS, and a possibly successful spy career with the International Bureau when she ran away with supervillain Lucy Reynolds Diamond to follow her heart, the whole DEBS Academy was put under scrutiny of all the different government intelligence agencies. The top squad was left under a cloud of suspicion, Max Brewer being bestfriends with Amy. Max, Janet, and Dominique's loyalty was questioned, causing Ms. Petrie, the headmistress of the school, to disregard Max's right to head the squad, and instead, appointed a rookie. They remained, now in the hands of a new captain, **JESSICA SAMMLER**, who, even though looks more innocent than Janet, is fiercer than Max, sexier than Dominique, and prettier than the former DEB herself, Amy. Jessie is determined to catch Lucy Diamond and do whatever it takes to bring her before the law and make her pay for her crimes, despite the fact that Lucy had practically returned and gave up everything she stole to its rightful owners to clean her reputation. And on her trail to catch the sexy sultry former crime boss, to her squad's dilemma, Jessie meets Lucy Diamond's half-sister, **KATHERINE REYNOLDS SINGER**; Lucy's exact opposite. Katie, unlike Lucy, has a very clean slate: never had a speeding ticket, never smoked, never assaulted anyone, never broke the law. The only thing she has in common with Lucy was half her blood, her gorgeous looks, and her charms.

**CHAPTER 1THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY**

Barcelona, Spain…

"Bye Katie. See you at school tomorrow." Tad smiled at his bestfriend as he stopped his car in front of the small pad near the lake where Katie was living, that afternoon after school

_THADDEUS PINCUS, 23, Katie's bestfriend and goes to the same law school with her, lives at a condominium unit his rich parents had paid for, drives a nice Porsche, and a really good-looking player._

"Don't forget to show up at the library tomorrow, alright? We really need to finish our paper to meet the deadline. I don't want to flunk this subject." Katie grinned at him and got off the car.

_Katherine Reynolds Singer, 22, the brainy and talented, law-abiding, law student, independently living in Barcelona through the big trust fund her father left for her. Pretty, carefree, and charming without even trying. She believes in soulmates and true love, but despite the fact that she had gone out with almost every good-looking guy in school, no one had ever made her heart flutter the way they describe in the movies. She's a self-proclaimed hopeless romantic, but after a long, fruitless search for Mr. Right, she's starting to think that maybe she's just plain hopeless._

Katie reached for her keys from the pocket of her bag. After finding it, she inserted the key to the doorknob and turned the door open. Walking into the living room, she threw her bag on the couch and headed to the kitchen for a drink, opening the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water. She was drinking when she heard a familiar voice from behind her.

"Wow, I didn't expect you'd be home this early."

_Lucinda Reynolds Diamond, 24, former supervillain, used to steal diamonds and rob banks, but had given up the life of crime, and everything she stole to be with Amy Bradshaw. She's Katie's half-sister, having the same mother, who died of cancer when she was 14. Since then, she had lived with her father, who headed one of the biggest crime syndicates in the world. When her father died after a blood feud with the Schaffers which she was lucky to survive, she became the syndicate's den mother, with the aid of her bestfriend Scud. Like Katie, she is very pretty, very tanned, thinner maybe, but still attractive, she might even be more charming which by the way she often uses to her own advantage, and unlike Katie, had broken the law a thousand times over._

Surprised, Katie accidentally spit her drink. She turned around immediately, to face the intruder, and was rather relieved and at the same time annoyed, to find Lucy Diamond standing in the door of the kitchen, and beside her was an unfamiliar blonde.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Katie glared at Lucy, walked to a drawer and grabbed a tissue to wipe her face.

"Nice to see you too, little sis." Lucy grinned, held the hand of the other girl beside her, and walked to Katie's direction. Katie sighed. She knew she acted rude. But who can blame her? She was surprised to realize she wasn't alone inside her own house.

"How did you get in?" Katie looked suspiciously at Lucy.

"I pried the locks. You know, for my sister, your security really is a shit." Lucy chuckled and lifted what seemed to be a hairpin on her right hand. Katie rolled her eyes.

"You just couldn't wait outside, can you?" Katie walked past by her sister and headed back to the fridge.

"Can't risk anyone see us." Lucy said simply. Katie stared at her for a while before remembering that her sister was in fact, wanted in the States for breaking the law, and who knows in how many other countries. Lucy continued.

"You didn't answer my question, why are you here early? Don't you have a life or something?" Lucy chuckled again. She never fails to annoy Katie, especially when it comes to bringing up her failure to keep her dates. She's really picky.

"I thought you said it's better for us not to see each other again." Katie said casually.

"I did?" Lucy grinned, using her charms to try and lighten up the tension she felt was building between her and her sister.

"Lucy… I don't have time for all your bullshit, okay? I've got to wake up early tomorrow, meet my bestfriend at the library to finish a really important term paper, and then, a major exam after that. Just tell me what you want and get this over with, okay?" Katie sighed and walked back to the living room. Lucy looked a bit embarrassed, but she couldn't let herself be mad at Katie. It was, after all, her fault. She did say that it's better if they wouldn't see each other again, and Lucy kept that promise. Usually, Lucy just calls to say hi or greet her a happy birthday or a merry Christmas, and occasionally sends her a gift or wires money to her account undetected through the help of Scud, which by the way, Katie didn't appreciate. She never touched the money that Lucy gave her. Lucy held the blonde's hand again and pulled her back to the living room. Katie was now sitting on the couch, going through her bag.

"Look, Kat, I'm sorry---"

"Lucy, you abandoned me. Sorry isn't enough anymore." Katie said without looking up at her. After finding the book that she had been looking for inside her bag, she pretended to start reading. Lucy was struck in the heart by her sister's words. She glanced at the blonde standing beside her, and the other girl gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. Lucy smiled at the blonde, then let go of her hand, and walked to the couch, in front of Katie, and dropped on her knees.

"I thought you understand. You know I didn't want to put you and your life in danger, that's why I said we can never see each other again. You're the only family I have left. I can't risk losing you, you know that." Lucy sighed. Katie shifted her eyes from the book to Lucy's eyes.

"If you're trying to use your charm on me, I'm telling you, it's not gonna work." Katie snorted.

"Can we just drop the sarcasm for a moment and talk? Katie, please… I need your help." Lucy said sincerely. Katie stared at her for a moment, before speaking again.

"What did you do this time?" Katie finally spoke, her tone less harsh than a few seconds ago. Lucy smiled.

"First, I want you to meet someone. Katie, this is Amy." Lucy smiled sweetly at blonde who was standing a few feet away. Amy made a few steps to

"Hi." Katie smiled, intrigued.

"Hi, I'm Amy Bradshaw, DEBS Sector 1." Lucy chuckled. Amy turned and saw the amused look in Lucy's face, realizing that she had been introducing herself in automatic. "I mean, former DEBS." Amy backtracked, amused at her own silliness.

_AMY BRADSHAW, 22, Code Name: **THE PERFECT SCORE, **Cancer, the hot-bodied idealist, prefers spear guns for a weapon, scoring a perfect score on the secret test in the S.A.T., Amy is the D.E.B.S. Academy's top student, until she gave up everything to be with supervillain Lucy Diamond, and to trade her spy career for art school._

"Amy, this is my sister Katie." Katie smiled at Amy first, before narrowing her eyes on Lucy.

"DEBS?" Katie couldn't believe herself. Isn't her sister dubbed as one of the most wanted criminals alive? Then what is she doing with a DEB?

"I know what you're thinking. But first, give me a chance to explain what I'm doing here."

"You better." Katie eyed her sister suspiciously.

Los Angeles, California…

"Move it move it move it!" The voice echoed all over the top squad house, jerking the original members out of sleep. Max, who is always vigilant, immediately grabbed her gun as she shot out of bed, pointing it to no one in particular. Realizing it was just their new captain's annoying voice, she grumpily started to prepare for school.

"I said move it girls!" The voice thundered all over the house again. Janet scampered to get dressed. And Dominique, while reluctant, forced herself to get out of bed, because she knew perfectly that if she doesn't, there will be hell to pay.

The new captain was already waiting downstairs, a stern expression plastered in her face, when Max, Janet, and Dominique, finally went down.

"For a soldier, you're pretty damn slow, Brewer." Jessie crossed her arms, obviously annoyed at her squad.

_JESSICA SAMMLER, 20 years old, the no-nonsense, new captain of the DEBS top squad. Though she looks more innocent than Janet, she's tougher and fiercer than Max, sexier than Dominique, prettier and smarter than the perfect score herself, Amy. And she would do anything to uphold the law._

"Don't mess with me, Sammler." Max retorted warningly. Jessie merely grinned, and headed to the door. Jessie tossed the keys of the beetle to Janet, and Janet fumbled to catch it.

_MAX BREWER, 23, Code Name:** PANTHER, **Aries, Amy's bestfriend for life, the sexy sultry super hot former squad captain before Amy took over, prefers Uzi for a weapon, it's hard to tell whether she's a born leader or just borderline psychotic, leads her squad to danger and right back out again. Armed with a quick trigger finger, and an even quicker temper. With her, there will always be hell to pay._

"I'm not---" Janet was interrupted before she could finish.

"You're driving." Jessie said firmly without turning to look at them. She jumped into the front seat of the beetle, while Dominique, Janet, and Max exchanged looks.

"Me? But Max always---"

"I said you're driving, Janet. Brewer almost killed us the last time." Jessie said dismissively.

_JANET, 22,_ _Code Name:** ANGORA, **Pisces, prefers knitting needles than firing weapons, lives for four seasons cashmere, has fetish for sweaters that surpasses some people's fetish for leather. Her spacey demeanor may make her seem like something of a misnomer when thought of as a spy. Formerly a convicted shop lifter, she's now a master thief, courtesy of the D.E.B.S. Academy. Her affair with Scud, Lucy Diamond's bestfriend, didn't progress, or rather, she didn't let it progress, to protect Scud, Amy and Lucy._

"That's not true. You're so full of shit, Sammler. If you insist that we drive like my grandmother, we'll definitely die of boredom anyway." Max crossed her arms, and reluctantly sat on the backseat of the beetle beside Dominique.

"Hahaha, very funny. Janet, start driving or I'll strip you off your stripes." Jessie said sarcastically. Janet reluctantly sat on the driver's seat, and started driving. Max rolled her eyes, they are barely moving, at about 40 kph. She knew Jessie was just trying to get to her.

_Well, I'm not giving her the satisfaction… _Max thought.

"I'd probably get to the Academy first if I ran." Dominique muttered under her breath, which earned her a glare from Jessie at the rearview mirror.

_DOMINIQUE, 20, Code Name:** DIABOLIQUE, **Gemini, the French sex-addict turned super spy with supermodel thighs, prefers the AK47 for a weapon, has a knack for getting her man. With her bee-stung lips and a pout that seems permanently painted on her fine porcelain doll visage, built for seduction, running after bad guys, armed with her assault rifle, puffing on a cigarette, and accessorized with the sleekest and steepest stilletos straight off the runways of Paris. After a few fights and English lessons with Janet, she had managed to straighten her English a bit. _

The DEBS Academy was deserted when the top squad arrived. Jessie led them to a classroom.

"What the hell is your problem, Sammler, dragging us here this early?" Max snarled at Jessie.

"Don't try to be smart with me, Brewer. Just move your ass. I don't want to be late." Jessie growled back at Max.

"Late for what?" Dominique frowned.

"A meeting with Ms. Petrie." A grin formed in Jessie's deceptively innocent face. Dominique, Max, and Janet exchanged looks. The said headmistress of the Academy only comes down when she's assigning the squad to a mission, and they've never been on a mission since their very own perfect score left the DEBS and was declared an outlaw.

Max, Janet, and Dominique knew they would have caught Lucy Diamond that night, and would have prevented Amy from leaving the DEBS, they would have been heroes, but they also knew that they wouldn't have been happy either. But because of their friendship with Amy, and considering Lucy's efforts to reform by returning everything that she stole to the rightful owners, Max let Amy and Lucy go and wished them happiness, but of course, the DEBS Academy didn't know they let them go.

You can't really blame the Academy. The top squad, composed of the original members, Max, Janet and Dominique, were suspected of consorting with the enemy, Amy now being an enemy of the State. As a standard operating procedure, they were investigated and vetted for information, putting each of them under a lie detector test, which they managed to pass despite the nervousness. Despite being proved to be innocent, which they are, with the fact that they are not communicating with Amy anymore, the top squad was never assigned to go on a mission again. All the while thinking that Max was automatically reinstated as captain of the squad, it shocked them when they received a memo, informing them that Amy Bradshaw had been replaced as captain. And it wasn't Max Brewer.

Instead of putting Max in charge, they put in a brilliant rookie. She might not have perfected the secret test in the SAT, having only one error; but she had always been at the top of her class. Jessica Sammler might actually depict what the Academy was all about, but she was Max, Janet, and Dominique's nightmare.

"With Ms. Petrie?" Janet asked nervously.

"Yeah." After Jessie's reply, Ms. Petrie appeared in front of the classroom. The squad members turned their head simultaneously. Jessie seemed excited, but the rest looked apprehensive. Ms. Petrie made a few steps towards them, her secretary tailing her while taking notes.

"Good morning girls." Ms. Petrie said with a smile.

"Good morning Ms. Petrie." The four greeted in unison. Ms. Petrie then lifted a small remote control in her hand, and pointed it to the flat screen in front of them. A picture of Lucy Diamond and Amy Bradshaw appeared.

"Few months ago, we lost trail of the dangerous criminal, Lucy Diamond. Unfortunately for us, she managed to brainwash our very own Amy Bradshaw and convinced her to run away with her. Efforts had been exerted to find her again, and after a long time, finally, we have our leads." Ms. Petrie smiled again. Max, Janet, and Dominique tried their best to keep their face void of expression.

"There were sightings of Lucy Diamond and Amy Bradshaw in Barcelona, Spain. Do whatever you have to do to apprehend them. We want them alive. You're flying in 2200 hours." Ms. Petrie then walked back to the front of the room, and disappeared with her secretary.

"Worried, Brewer?" Jessie's sarcastic voice woke Max out of her trance. She turned to her captain with a growl.

"Why would I be?" Max snorted.

"That we'd find your friend and catch her." Jessie cooed Max. Dominique and Janet exchanged looks. Max isn't the type who can control her temper, but she's obviously trying to control herself now from exploding. Yielding into Jessie's provocation wouldn't do them any good. Max, instead of arguing with Jessie, got up from her seat and headed out, with Dominique and Janet following her.

"Where does your loyalty lie?" Jessie called after Max with a grin, before following them. Max was walking hurried in the school hallway, and Dominique caught up with her.

"What are we going to do?" Dominique whispered.

"I don't know." Max sighed. She is really worried.

"They could be in Barcelona." Janet whispered from behind, knowing how much Amy wanted to go to an art school there. Jessie was still far behind them.

"That's what I'm afraid of." Max's head was rambling with thoughts. She couldn't let her bestfriend get caught. She knew Lucy wouldn't allow that to happen either, but they don't even have any idea that the squad has a new pain-in-the-ass captain. As much as they want to warn them, they don't have any idea how.

"This is getting uglier, and uglier, and uglier…" Janet sighed.

Back in Barcelona...

"Oh..." Was the only thing Katie was able to say after hearing Lucy's story about coming home from Reykajvic, going on a blind date with an assassin, got ambushed by the DEBS, meeting Amy, falling in love with Amy, giving up her life of crime, Amy breaking up with her for the DEBS, then running back into each other and away from everyone. It was unbelievable, and impressive actually. She was also thrilled to have her sister back. But at the same time, she's worried. 'Coz despite the fact that she returned everything she stole to the rightful owners, she's still considered a felon under the law. She would still have to pay for her crimes.

"What do you want me to do?" Katie asked anxiously.

"I need you to help me... I mean, me and Amy, to start over. After returning everything I stole, there wasn't much left." Lucy explained.

"So, you need money?" Katie confirmed. She was just so glad she didn't touch all the money Lucy had wired her. She could use that money to start over.

"No, not exactly. I still have some, but I need to use it wisely." Lucy said.

"That's a problem." Katie frowned, knowing how impulsive Lucy is when it comes to spending her money. It was so easy for her to spend it since she didn't work hard for it.

"Thanks for the encouraging words, sis." Lucy snorted mockingly. Katie chuckled, then pause.

"I will help you Lucy, but you're gonna have to tell me exactly what to do."

"Okay. Thanks, Kat." Lucy smiled. Katie stared at her for a while.

"It's good to have you back, Lucy." Katie smiled. Then gave her sister a hug.

"I'm not leaving again, I promise." Lucy said. Katie pulled away, staring at her sister's eyes.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"But, what if authorities find you here? I mean, I'm your sister. They'd suspect that I have communication with you." Katie said, sounding worried.

"We just have to be more discreet then... I'm tired of running, Katie, and that's not the life that I want for Amy."

"And speaking of Amy, I'm gonna go help her in the kitchen. She's taking too long. You want anything?" Katie got up from the couch.

"No thanks. I'm good." Lucy smiled, and Katie headed to the kitchen to find Amy sitting on a chair, staring at the overcooked instant lasagna in front of her.

"I think I'm not hungry anymore." Katie joked and chuckled. Amy looked up with a smile on her face.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Sorry, I'm not much of a cook." Amy smiled sheepishly. It was instant lasagna and she couldn't even cook it right.

"That's okay. I'm sure Lucy would be thrilled to eat it." Katie joked again. "You were taking too long, so I came to get you."

"So, you guys are done talking?"

"Let's just say that we have resolved everthing that needs to be resolved." Katie smiled reassuringly at her.


	2. Mission: Mysterious HalfSister

**CHAPTER 2MISSION: MYSTERIOUS HALF-SISTER**

Jessie carelessly threw her things on the bed as she entered the room reserved for her at the Hyatt Hotel in Barcelona. It had been an awfully long flight which exhausted her to death. And annoyingly, all those time on the plane, Janet and Dominique wouldn't stop arguing about the right pronunciation of 'diciliside'. The two almost got into her nerves.

_Why would they even argue about the stupid 'diciliside'? They should be thankful I fell asleep... _Jessie still felt irritated. When she was assigned to be the new captain of DEBS Sector 1, she was excited. Hey, it was after all, the top squad. And for a rookie like her, it was really impressive that even without experience, she ascended into the highest position a DEB could ever dream of. But to her disappointment, the squad turned to be so different to what she expected them to be.

_A bunch of stupid and dorky little losers... _Jessie shook her head. She walked to the glass window and looked out to see the amazing landscape of the city of Barcelona.

_Wow... _Jessie couldn't help but stare in awe.

Meanwhile, at another part of Barcelona... Katie was standing in the small dock at the lake. Her hands were stuffed in her pockets, her dark hair being blown lavishly by the wind. She had been staring at the water for quite some time now.

"Why do you always do that?" A voice said from behind her. Katie smiled. She didn't have to turn to see who the other person is.

"Do what?"

"Stare at the water for hours." Tad stopped beside Katie.

"Because it clears my head... When your mind just refuses to work anymore, isn't there anything that you do to clear your head?"

"Yeah, sure. Sex definitely clears my head." Tad laughed. Katie hit him playfully in the arm.

"You are so disgusting, Tad."

"What? It's a basic need." Tad said defensively. Katie stood amused. "You seem happier than usual. What's up with you?"

"Can you keep a secret?" Katie turned to look at Tad.

"Of course." Tad smiled. Katie stared at him for a moment, having an internal debate whether to tell Tad or not. But Tad is her bestfriend. She tells him everything.

"Lucy's back." Katie smiled. Tad looked at her, frowning, not knowing how to react. Then, after a few seconds of thinking, he realized who Katie was talking about.

"Your sister Lucy?" Tad's eyes lit up. Katie nodded. "Oh my God... Your HOT sister, Lucy?" Tad grinned.

"Oh, I know what you're thinking, Tad. But you're not really her type." Katie laughed.

"How would you know? You haven't seen her in years." Tad tried to convince Katie. Well, there's nothing wrong to assume. Tad's definitely good-looking, but still, he's not Lucy's type.

"Because you're not a girl."

"Excuse me?" Tad squeaked.

"She's gay." Katie couldn't help but laugh at her bestfriend's expression. He looked kind'a shocked at first, but then a mischievous grin formed on his face.

"That only adds to the fun." Tad said, Katie rolled her eyes. "So, what is she doing here? I thought you guys had a major fall out and she deserted you."

"Well, that's not exactly what happened. She abandoned me for a reason." Katie paused. "She's here to start over."

"Mind if I help her?" Tad wiggled his eyebrows.

"No, but her girlfriend would probably mind."

"Wow, she has a girlfriend? What does she look like?" Tad asked excitedly.

"Better-looking than all the girls you've dated." Katie grinned. Tad's jaw dropped.

"Are you serious?"

"Yup."

"I should start hanging out with her!"

"Tad, chill, okay? You're waking all the sleeping fish." Katie joked. Tad frowned. They fell into short silence, before Tad spoke again.

"But she's wanted in the United States."

"That's why you have to keep your mouth shut." Katie looked seriously at Tad. "I've never had a family for a long time, it's nice to have someone for a change." Tad looked sypathetically at her, and gave her a hug.

Back at the Hyatt... Max, Janet, and Dominique secretly met at Max's room. After letting Dominique and Janet in, Max checked the hallway, and finding the coast clear, she locked the door.

"We can't let her find Amy." Max immediately spoke.

"But what are we gonna do? We don't know how to contact her." Janet whispered.

"How about Scum?" Dominique said.

"His name is SCUD!" Janet growled at Dominique. Dominique, holding her usual cigarette in her right hand, puffed the smoke into Janet's face.

"Whatever, can you call him?" Dominique said dismissively.

"No, I don't know how either. We both decided to stop communicating with each other to protect both Amy and Lucy." Janet's shoulders fell. Max, for the first time ever, actually felt sympathetic towards Janet and gave her a tap on the shoulder.

"Then we just have to keep close to Sammler." Max said.

"Why?" Janet asked. Max looked at her in disbelief.

"Duh... So we'll know her plans. And as long as we know what she's planning to do, we can make a move ahead of her."

"Good idea." Dominique said.

"Now, get back to your rooms before Captain I'm-a-pain-in-the-ass realizes that we're having a secret meeting." With that, Dominique and Janet scampered back to their hotel rooms.

At Jessies' room, she sat on the edge of the bed, staring at her lap top. A picture of Lucy Diamond was on the screen. She could feel her jaw tightening, just looking at the unmoving face of the criminal.

"Payback time." Jessie muttered to herself. She punched a key on the computer and Lucy's profile came on the screen. She knew beforehand that Lucy has a sister (despite of Lucy's efforts to eradicate all the records proving that she has a sister), and that sister is currently living in Spain, but isn't sure if it's in Barcelona. It would be too stupid for the criminal to actually come over and pay the mysterious sister a visit.

After a major research in the past, she found out the name of Lucy's sister. She entered the same into the Barcelona's database of citizens, and there was a match.

_Katherine Reynolds Singer, let's see how you look... _Jessie grinned at the thought of finding the trail to catch the elusive Lucy Diamond. After clicking the match result, Jessie clicked to view the profile, and Katherine Reynolds Singer's picture flashes into the screen.

Jessie felt as if her breath was taken away for a while... Realizing that she had been staring, she blinked.

"You're going down, Diamond." Jessie then printed Katie's picture, exited the database, turned the lap top off, and headed to bed.


	3. Flavor of the Weak

**A/N: **I'm not really sure why this is the title of the third chapter. I just listened to one of my favorite songs by American Hi-Fi with the same title and I just thought it's a cool title. Anyway, sorry for updating too long. Here goes…

**CHAPTER 3FLAVOR OF THE WEAK**

"This is mere surveillance. Brewer, don't even dare think of doing anything stupid." Jessie purposely scorned the former captain while giving her team her instructions. They will be splitting into two groups. Max is going to do a stake out with Dominique at the Barcelona Law School, while Jessie will be doing the surveillance with Janet at Katie's house at the lake.

"What is your problem, Sammler?" Max growled back.

"None of your business." Jessie faked a smile and headed to the car that was waiting for them outside Hyatt. "Let's go, Janet." Jessie opened the car and jumped into the driver's seat. Janet followed her, while looking helplessly at the other DEBS. Max looked at her sympathetically, and when her eyes shifted from Janet to the car she's supposed to be driving with Dominique, her eyes widened in disbelief. Obviously enraged, she marched to Jessie's side of the car and knocked hard on the window. Jessie lowered the window.

"What?" Jessie asked impatiently.

"How come I get to drive a stupid and old Japanese car and you get to drive a Mercedez?" Max demanded Jessie to explain. Jessie displayed another sarcastic smile.

"Because I'm the captain, and you're not. Take care, Brewer. I wouldn't want to lose a valuable member of my squad, a.k.a. Dominique." Jessie laughed mockingly. Janet's jaw dropped. Dominique and Max scowled at Jessie. Jessie then put the car on the move and sped away. Max and Dominique exchanged glances.

"I'm surprised." Dominique remarked.

"Of what?" Max asked, still obviously annoyed while grudgingly marching to an old silver Honda Accord parked not so far away from them.

"Of you not kicking her ass." Dominique grinned while following her former captain to the car. Max opened the driver's side and hopped on to the seat. Dominique opened the other side and climbed in after Max.

"But I definitely want to." Max growled, as she checked the rearview mirror.

"Why didn't you? Janet and I wouldn't have stopped you anyway." Dominique chuckled. Max turned her face to her, looking serious.

"Because I don't want to risk Amy's life for my temper." Max sighed. She knew she could take Jessie, anytime anywhere. It's just that getting into Jessie's bad side would definitely be a misfortune for Amy and Lucy. Max knew she has to stay close to Jessie, to know her plans, and eventually save Amy and Lucy's ass in the process.

"So… What are we gonna do now?"

"We follow 'Royal Pain's' order." Max snorted. Dominique laughed at Max's new nickname for Jessie. "We'll put a close watch on Katie Singer."

"What does she got to do with this? She's just Lucy's sister and Lucy isn't that stupid to stay close to anyone whom people knew she's closely related with. She'd know it's risky." Dominique said, and Max got her point. But she has her own presumptions.

"There were sightings of Amy and Lucy in Barcelona. Katie IS in Barcelona, which is enough to raise suspicions on Jessie's part. Lucy's effort to eradicate all records that connects her to Katie just proves how much she cares for her sister. It's impossible for her to stay in Barcelona without trying to contact Katie. There's got to be some sort of communication going on between them, and Jessie's gonna find it, one way or another. Since Lucy is very good at this 'hiding-thing', why not target her weakness, right? If ever Jessie's suspicions are correct, Katie will lead her to Lucy, and eventually Amy. And we have to stop that from happening."

"Damn, you're right." Dominique sighed.

"I'm always right." Max glanced at her communicator watch. "We got to go. 'Half-sister' might already be leaving school." Max put their car on the move and headed to the Law School Katie was attending. Dominique pulled the dash board and reached for the large picture stashed inside it.

"Hot." Taking a closer look at Katie's stolen picture, Dominique grinned. Max rolled her eyes.

"You're straight." Max reminded Dominique.

"So? I told you I've had an affair with a woman once." Dominique looked at Max.

"And I told you, too much information, Dominique." Max rolled her eyes again.

Meanwhile, Katie Singer was walking across the soccer field amidst the crowd of students, when a tall, lean guy stops in front of her, purposely blocking her way.

"Antonio, get out of my way." Katie growled at the good-looking Spanish guy in front of her. The guy gave a smug smile and crossed his arms, ignoring Katie's request.

"Now, why would I do that?" The self-loving soccer varsity grinned.

"Because you'll regret it if you don't." Katie said firmly.

"Your cockiness makes you even hotter, Singer." Antonio said with a heavy Spanish accent. Katie frowned.

"Are you gonna get out of my face, or do I have to use force?" Katie said threateningly. Antonio laughed, which make Katie narrow her eyes at him.

"It depends, are we going to be in your bed?" Antonio's grin grew wider. Katie couldn't control her annoyance anymore. Without even thinking, she kicked him hard, between his legs, hitting him right 'there'.

"Ow!" Antonio fell on the grass, screaming and wincing in pain.

"Wuss." Katie said one last time to Antonio, and marched away from the scene, leaving stunned students behind.

"Bravo!" Katie heard someone say from behind, she turned her head and saw Tad running after her. She rolled her eyes.

"That asshole deserved that." Katie huffed.

"And I said bravo didn't I?" Tad grinned. "You know, you could have permanently damaged his 'little man' down there."

"That's exactly my intention. I just did the world a favor. Now he won't be able to spread his seeds and reproduce... Euuw." Katie flinched at realizing what she had just said. Tad laughed. "What's so funny?" Katie frowned in annoyance.

"The look on his face. He had no idea you can actually kick ass."

"Well, I'm Lucy Diamond's sister, you know. So don't mess with me." Katie finally smiled.

"Oh I wont mess with you." Tad raised both his hands mocking surrender. Then they both laughed at the same time. He turned his head to get a brief look of Antonio behind them and saw him still wincing on the ground. He shook his head.

"Sweet... I just have one question though." Tad continued.

"What?" Katie asked.

"Why did you keep turning him down? He isn't exactly as good-looking as me but he doesn't look so bad." Tad asked seriously. Katie rolled at her bestfriend's not so subtle bragging.

"I'm surprised you had to ask me that. Haven't you seen how much of an asshole he is?" Katie said incredulously.

"Well, I still don't understand why, but most girls in this school would date him in a heartbeat." Tad shook his head again. Just to be fair, his not so subtle bragging is actually true. He's definitely better looking than Katie's persistent admirer, but it's still a mystery to him why Antonio gets most of the girls. Tad is one of the most popular 'players' in school, dating girls is the competition both him and Antonio were in. It's like a contest between them, unfortunately, Antonio is definitely winning.

"I'm not most girls." Katie said simply then continued. "And besides, I saw him picking his nose last year." She said mortified and Tad laughed again.

"Major turn off, huh?"

"I was grossed out!" Katie laughed with him.

"You always say that."

"Say what?" Katie frowned.

"What you just said. Whenever you go out on dates, or when a guy hits on you, or whenever you finally find someone who meets your standards, you always try to find something to get out of it as soon as you can. Nobody is perfect, you know, even you pick your nose, don't deny it. I do." Tad said.

"Of course when nobody's looking." Katie sighed. "Don't scorn me just because I can't keep relationships. You've only had one real." Katie retaliated.

"Yeah, one, which I would have kept if she only felt the same way." Tad sighed, his mind going back to the memories of four years ago with an old flame. He loved 'her'. He really did. But his girl said she couldn't go on with the relationship. He thought he'd die when she left him. When Katie said she's leaving the States to study in Barcelona, which he didn't understand at first, he decided to go with her. "Katie, I'm not scorning you. I get it, you're hot, and men fall at your feet and they are all yours for the taking, and maybe you're tired with all of the attention, but one day you're gonna need someone." Tad tried to explain.

"Can you blame me if I couldn't find someone who can make my heart race?"

"Running can make your heart race." Tad said logically. Katie rolled her eyes again.

"True love can make your heart race without you doing anything." Katie said convincingly.

"That's crap, Katie."

"I so happen to believe that crap. Don't tell me you haven't felt that way towards Grace." Katie remarked without thinking. She forgot how Tad tried not to mention his ex-girlfriend's name after their break up four years ago. Tad stopped walking, staring at Katie. Realizing her tactlessness, Katie stopped walking and turned around to return Tad's gaze.

"Can you believe I've managed to survive the last four years without even mentioning that name?" Tad said.

"I'm sorry, that was out of line." Katie apologized. She still wondered why Grace still had this much effect on Tad. It's been a long time. She had considered the fact that maybe Tad will never get over her.

"True love will never leave you." Tad said casually then started walking again. Katie walked with him.

"You didn't even stop her." Katie added.

"Things wouldn't have been different." Tad said in conviction.

"You don't know that." Katie said firmly. Tad gave her a brief look and continued.

"I thought we were talking about you." Tad smiled, turning the conversation around. Katie knew it was his way of changing the topic back to her and to avoid having the 'Grace talk' again.

"There is nothing to talk about." Katie smiled back.

"Katie, how can you find that one true love if you wont even give it a chance?" Tad asked incredulously.

"Are you kidding? I am giving it a chance, that's why I keep dating prospects."

"Yeah, you keep dating prospects and then ditch them after the first date. You're supposed to get to know someone first, then like them, and then maybe, fall for them. That's how love goes."

"I can't force myself to fall in love. Tad, it just happens: you don't know when, you don't how, but if that person comes along, you'll just feel it, you wont be able to resist it. You'll just fall." Katie said dreamily.

"If you are talking about true love AT FIRST SIGHT, then you're stupid." Tad huffed.

"What's so stupid about believing in something?" Katie chided her bestfriend.

"There's no such thing as love at first sight. You've been watching too much movies, dude." Tad shook his head.

"If there is no such thing, why did Amy leave the DEBS, and why did my criminal mastermind sister left the whole nine yards and returned everything she stole so they could be together?" Katie challenged Tad to answer. Tad's jaw dropped and turned around to face Katie. He had stopped walking.

"What are you saying? That your gay sister and her straight girlfriend fell in love at first sight?" Tad thought it was incredulous. He didn't know Lucy and Amy's story, but he only guessed that maybe Lucy had worked hard just to make this Amy fall for her.

"Don't call them that."

"Why not? She IS gay." Tad defended himself.

"Yeah but you don't have to emphasize that." Katie rolled her eyes.

"A DEB falling in love with a supervillain, at first sight? Lucy must have done some persistent wooing to win Amy's heart, Katie. Come on, they didn't fall in love at first sight." Tad grinned.

"Well, technically, no, 'coz Lucy's first sight of Amy was when Amy was rappelling down from the ceiling shooting her for dead and she didn't really have a good look. But when they were actually able to look at each other closely at the warehouse where they literally crashed into each other, they fell in love." Katie said. Tad laughed.

"I don't believe it." Tad said, whilst shaking his head.

"I'm not asking you to. But if it isn't true love, why would a clean-slated and brilliant government agent leave her squad and risk her life to be with one of the most wanted criminals alive? She wasn't even gay when she met my sister. And why would a master criminal return everything she stole, when all her life, stealing was all she had ever done?" Katie stared at Tad, waiting for his answer. She watched as Tad's face contorted while he was thinking. She continued.

"What is it that they want from each other, Tad? Is it mere friendship? Is it for fun? Come on, there's got to be a reason, right?" Katie mocked him. Tad frowned at her. He knew she got him there. Katie has a point.

"Fine, you win." Tad sighed. Then an idea clicked into his head. Katie saw the mischievous grin plastered on her bestfriend's face. He's got some crazy idea on his head again, she just knew it.

"Why are you looking so goofy?" Katie narrowed her eyes on him.

"Maybe you should try dating other girls too? Someone might actually make your heart race! Why don't we ask Amy if there's another hot DEB she can introduced you to?" He joked. Katie punched him on the right arm. "Aww! That hurts!"

"I don't date girls." Katie scowled at him.

"So did Amy." Tad pointed out. Katie actually pondered at the thought and Tad watched her for a moment.

"Ha-ha, Tad, very funny." Katie mocked him. She looked annoyed and Tad noticed. He laughed and wrapped his right arm around Katie's shoulders as they walked together out of the campus.

From a distance, Max finally put her binoculars down, shifting her gaze to Dominique who was sitting by her right.

"That's another thing she doesn't have in common with Lucy. Katie Singer's got a boyfriend." Dominique then gave Katie's direction another glance and accessed something on her laptop. Max lifted her binoculars to her eyes again and watched as Tad and Katie disappeared into  
Tad's car.

"Thaddeus Pincus, 23 years old, law student... Sorry Max, but he isn't Katherine Singer's boyfriend." Dominique said. Max put her binoculars down again and put their car on the move to follow Tad's Porsche.

"Really? Who is he then?" Max asked, intrigued. Katie and Tad definitely looked cute together.

"Subject's bestfriend... She dated a lot, though." Dominique confirmed. She continued accessing the information on the laptop. She had entered the database of the Barcelona Law School. Max frowned at Dominique's information.

"They have that information in Barcelona's database? Do they have a gossip column concerning each of their citizen?" Max face contorted in disbelief of her own conclusion.

"I'm accessing the school paper's website." Dominique corrected her colleague.

"So, they have a gossip column about each of their student, I assume?"

"Not exactly, no." Dominique's reply intrigued Max more and made her frown. "Subject's pretty popular back there."

"Elaborate." The suspense is killing Max. Katie Singer sounded like a very interesting person.

"Katherine Singer might be the brightest student ever graced this school, one article in the school paper says, 'coz she gets straight A's in all of her subjects, nothing lower." Dominique said while looking at the screen of her laptop.

"Really?" Max asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, and she's one of their best varsity swimmers. She brought 3 gold medals in the past three years, competing against different universities all over Spain. Subject's practically discussed in every issue of their school paper."

"Uh-huh, and you knew she dated a lot because...?" Max tried to hustle Dominique.

"Because every article about her, sports or academics, includes a bit of her personal life. I think Katie Singer is their very own homegrown celebrity."

"Ha... She really is Lucy's sister." Max pondered as she tried to catch up with Tad's speeding Porsche. Tad made a right turn and Max stepped harder on the gas, but when she turned to where Tad's Porsche had disappeared, the car was nowhere to be seen. Max hit the steering wheel hard.

"Shit! This Japanese car is so going to flames!" Max screamed in annoyance. Ignoring her complaints, Dominique continued accessing the database. There were too many interesting articles about Katie, and she couldn't help her amusement. Hearing Dominique's giggle, Max threw her a brief glare.

"Care to share?" Max wondered what Dominique might have been reading that's making her laugh.

"There's an article solely written about the myspace hate account devoted to Katie Singer." Dominique laughed even harder as she continued reading the said article.

"Are you serious?" Max frowned again.

"Yeah, you want to read it?" Dominique finally looked up Max to meet her glare.

"Can't you see I'm driving? Just tell me what it says." Max chided her.

"Oh, sorry. Okay, uh, the article says that a hate account in myspace was set up for those who dated Katie Singer and got dumped. Apparently, she had dated almost half of the male population of the school."

"Wow, she's even better than Lucy Diamond."

"She might be." Dominique added.

"But who would do that?" Max asked incredulously.

"Someone who might have fallen for Katie real hard. I smell desperation." Dominique laughed. "So pathetic..."

"What did she do about it then?"

"Nothing." Dominique shrugged.

"Nothing?" Max echoed incredulously. "A hate account was created against her and she didn't do or say anything about it?"

"Katie Singer doesn't do interviews. She did have one comment, though." Dominique scrolled down and read Katie's comment verbatim. "'I don't care what you think or say about me, so if you have nothing to do but ponder about your miserable lives, then be my guest, go on and talk about me if it makes you happy. But don't include me in your misery.'" Dominique looked back at Max. "She hates attention and only hangs out with a few people. Mostly, only with her bestfriend. Katie Singer's not much into making friends."

"Good." Max finally smiled.

"What's good?" Dominique frowned.

"That's gonna be a problem for Jessie." Max grinned. Realizing what Max was thinking, Dominique smiled.

Jessie's plan was to befriend the subject and gain her trust. Sure, it might take long, maybe a month, probably more than that, but as long as they catch Lucy Diamond and Amy Bradshaw, the DEBS Academy wouldn't mind. Katie's aloofness would probably stretch their mission longer than Ms. Petrie would have liked, and Max was happy with that. Jessie would have a big problem trying to win Katie's trust, despite of how innocent she looks. How she hoped Katie wouldn't like Jessie from the very start...

"Look, if you have a problem with this stake-out, then just go." Jessie snarled at Janet. Her subordinate had been successful at annoying her in the past hour. If it wasn't against the law, she would have strangled her already and dropped her body at the nearby lake.

"You know I can't, you'll strip me off my stripes." Janet said.

"You guessed right." Jessie huffed at Janet. Janet looked at her in disbelief. Jessie lifted her binoculars to her eyes to check at the subject's house again. The lights were still off. No signs of anyone inside. Lucy or Amy are probably staying somewhere and laying low. But she had a feeling that the two had been here, of if not, they had been near. Her instincts had never betrayed her, ever. After a few seconds of thinking, Jessie put her binoculars down and got out of the car.

"Stay here." Jessie ordered Janet.

"Wait, where are you going?" Janet asked worriedly.

"Just looking around. You are not going to leave this car whatever happens, get it? We couldn't risk Bradshaw recognizing you if ever she's somewhere near with that criminal. You're back up. You are not going to do anything but follow my orders." Jessie said firmly before closing the car door.

"Whatever." Janet shrugged. Jessie slammed the car door shut and headed to the nearby house owned by their subject.

"It doesn't look so shabby." Jessie whispered to herself as she made her way to Katie's house by the lake. She was crossing the street when she heard the screeching sound coming from behind her. When she turned around, the lights almost blinded her.

_Oh my God, Jessie... _Janet closed her eyes while she sat inside the BMW.

"Tad, look out!!!" Katie screamed at the top of her lungs as she saw the thunderstruck look of the girl crossing the street who seemed to freeze to where she stands when Tad made that sudden turn to the right on their way to her house. She closed her eyes, anticipating to hear the sound of a body slamming against the hood of the sports car. The screeching of the tires almost shattered her eardrums. Her heart raced, her eyes were closed, and she felt when the Porsche finally stopped moving...


	4. Save Me

**A/N: Sorry for the unintentional error in Chapter 3 when I said BMW… I forgot Jessie's driving a Mercedez Benz… Anyways, on with the fourth chapter…**

**Chapter 4SAVE ME**

Katie sat in nervous silence, eyes still closed, her heart beating faster than she thought possible. She was afraid to open her eyes, too scared to see what she might see. Then she heard Tad's loud sigh.

'_Was it sigh of relief?' _Katie hoped so, and slowly, she forced her eyes to open, hoping to see the girl still standing in front of them, alive and breathing. And imagine how glad she was to see the frozen girl looking back at her. Katie literally jumped out of her seat, hitting Tad first in the arm before getting out of the Porsche.

"Aww!" Tad screamed in pain. Katie hit him really hard and it would probably bruise.

"Shit Tad, I told you to slow down!" Katie jumped out of the car and approached the girl who still hadn't moved from where she stands. Meanwhile, Janet, who still has her hands covering her face while sitting inside the car, slowly parted her fingers to peek at Jessie's situation. And boy was she glad upon seeing Jessie's form still standing in front of the headlights.

'_Whew, that was close!' _Janet wiped the bead of sweat that formed on top of her forehead. She then retracted her seat, so she wouldn't be seen in case Katie or Tad looks at her way.

"Are you okay?" Katie said softly at the other girl standing before her, her voice waking Jessie out of her daze. Jessie slowly turned her head to look up at Katie, but she couldn't say a word. The other girl was staring down at her, her green eyes full of concern whilst relief. Katie realized that the other girl wasn't really up to talking right now. She threw another sharp look at Tad's direction, and he lifted his arms in surrender, mouthing what seemed like 'I'm sorry'. Katie held the girl by the shoulders.

"Are you okay? Did my stupid bestfriend hit you? I have to bring you to the hospital to make sure---"

"No." Jessie spoke hurriedly, and cutting Katie off. "I mean, I'm fine, really."

"We're sorry." A deep male voice came from behind Jessie. Katie didn't realize that Tad had finally got out of his car.

"Well you should be. You almost killed her." Katie glared at Tad.

"I'm apologizing already." Tad defended himself, not understanding where Katie's sudden animosity was coming from. Sure, he's at fault, but it's not like he tried to hit the girl with his car on purpose.

"The apologies wouldn't do her any good if she was dead, you know." Katie really couldn't help her anger. She'd never felt so angry in her life. Well, there was one time, when Lucy decided to concentrate on her criminal career and abandoned her, but she's overlooked that now. She shifted her eyes back to the girl in front of her and heart almost broke. The blonde looked so vulnerable, like a fragile piece of fine porcelain…

"Katie, don't make this harder for me, okay? My conscience is giving me enough guilt trip already." Tad then turned to Jessie, with the most apologetic expression plastered on his face.

"Look, I am truly sorry. I swear on my own life that I have no intentions of killing anyone anywhere, ever." Tad raised his right hand. Jessie gave him a brief look and smiled.

"I believe you." Jessie smiled, then turned to look at Katie again. Katie, at the meantime, was just looking at her.

For a moment, none of them knew what to say. They stood in awkward silence, in front of Tad's blinding headlights. And finally, Jessie decided to leave.

"Uh, maybe I should go." Jessie made an attempt to walk back to the Mercedez.

"Wait…" Katie said before she could even process the reason why she's holding the other girl off.

"Yeah?" Jessie turned around with a smile.

"At least let me get you a drink. I really think I owe you one after that not so great near-death-experience caused by my stupid bestfriend." Katie smiled and Tad frowned. Katie isn't the type who invites strangers in. Well, this might be a different case anyway.

"Uhm… I'm not sure." Jessie said, faking reluctance.

"She makes a damn good piña colada." Tad grinned.

"Yeah, I do." Katie said proudly, flashing one of her most charming smiles again. She still isn't sure why she's inviting the girl in, knowing that she's okay now. Okay, so maybe it's the guilt of almost sending her to Kingdom Come unscheduled, despite the fact that she wasn't even driving.

"But I'm not much into piña colada." Jessie smiled apologetically. Katie felt her face slightly burn, and she exchanged looks with Tad. Then Katie hurriedly thought of something to say.

"I do have coke and water." Katie smiled again. Jessie held her gaze for a while, forgetting Tad was still in the picture.

"Look, you don't have to do this just to make me feel better about what happened… I'm still a bit shaken, but I'm fine… I'll get over it." Jessie smiled.

"I don't know why I'm…" Katie paused, then continued. "Is there anything that we can do for you at all?"

"I'm good. You guys don't have to do anything. Stop worrying about me, I'll be okay, believe me." Jessie assured Katie.

"Are you sure?" Katie asked.

"Do you worry this much all the time?" Jessie asked incredulously. This isn't how she pictured Katie Singer after reading all the information she had gathered about her. From her research, Katie was supposed to be the quiet and composed, snobbish rich girl.

"No, this is the first time she really worried about something… Or someone." Tad interjected.

"It's because it's the first time you almost won us a free ticket to jail!" Katie made sure she emphasized her point. Tad finally shut up. Jessie was amused. When she looked back at Katie's eyes, it was only now that she realized that Katie's eyes were green.

"Uhm… I really have to go." Jessie smiled at Katie again. Those green orbs are just so… '_Endearing… Wait, did I just think that?' _Jessie then avoided looking at her.

"I'm really sorry." Katie could feel her heart hammering in her chest, as if it's trying to get out. '_Well, thank Tad for that, he almost gave me a heart attack!' _

"It's not your fault."

"I know, I'm apologizing for him." Katie motioned to Tad's direction. Tad sulked to where he stood. And for the first time, Katie heard Jessie's laugh.

"It's okay, really." Jessie made a few steps back to her car and opened the door. But before getting in, she looked at Katie's direction again.

"Goodnight." Katie smiled.

"Yeah… You too." Jessie reached the driver's side of the car and opened the door. But before getting in, she couldn't help but turn her head at Katie's direction, silently hoping that it's not going to be last time that she sees those gorgeous green orbs… "By the way, I'm Jessie." Jessie introduced herself to Katie, totally ignoring Tad.

"My name's Katie." Katie said in return, almost too happy at hearing the other girl's name. She would have asked. It's just that she couldn't seem to find the words to say it right. _'For God's sake Singer, you just had to ask for her name!' _

"And I'm…" Before Tad could finish his introduction, Jessie had already jumped inside her car and sped away.

"I was going to say 'Tad, nice to meet you!'" Tad screamed after the speeding car, then shook his head. "That was rude."

"You almost hit her with your car." Katie reminded him while watching the Mercedez speed away. She then walked to the front door of her house, at the same time reaching for her keys from her pocket. Tad went back to his Porsche to park it properly in front of Katie's house. Then he followed her inside.

"What a fine-looking, young woman." Tad said and grinned as he followed Katie into the lakehouse. Katie rolled her eyes and turned around.

"Don't even think about it, Tad." Katie said warningly.

"I'm not thinking about anything." Tad replied, still grinning.

"She's had enough of you already. The last thing she needs is you harassing her." Katie then started walking again, heading to her kitchen to get something to eat. School had made her hungry.

"Katie, I don't know what you're talking about." Tad said, pretending not to know. When in fact, he knows exactly what Katie was talking about.

"A blonde haired girl with a stunning pair of blue eyes? I can still see her reflection dancing in your eyes, Tad, you can never fool me." Katie grabbed the pack of cheetos from the top of the fridge and threw it sharply at Tad's direction. She was intending to hit him by the face, but Tad's hands were fast enough to catch it.

"You noticed?" Tad narrowed his eyes on Katie.

"What?" Katie was starting to get irritated at Tad, without any reason why.

"That she has a STUNNING pair of blue eyes?" Tad made sure he emphasized the 'stunning' part.

"What's your point?"

"I never really had a good look of her eyes since she had been facing you and smiling at you all the time. I did notice that she's very attractive though." Tad grinned again, which made Katie roll her eyes for the thousandth time.

"Lay off of her." Katie said.

"It's not like I know where she lives anyway." Tad continued.

"Just lay off, okay?" Katie walked past by Tad and headed back to the living room. Confused, Tad tailed her again, his eyes narrowed at his bestfriend. Noticing the look Tad was giving her, Katie frowned.

"Now what?" After a moment of a staring marathon, Tad was the first to blink, and gave up.

"Nothing." He shrugged, then slumped into the maroon couch. Katie watched the back of his head for a while, in deep thought, then decided to sit beside him and turn the tv on.

Meanwhile, Janet finally retracted the car seat which had been pulled down so nobody would see her. Jessie was driving at 50mph.

"Was getting hit by a Porsche a part of your 'brilliant' plan?" Janet turned to Jessie, wide-eyed.

"Of course not, you clown." Jessie roared at her subordinate. Janet's eyes grew even wider.

"Oh my God… Do you realize that God just gave you another chance to live your life? You're lucky you---" Janet couldn't help but gasp, then was cut off by an irritated Jessie.

"Will you shut up and relax? I'm getting pretty tired of your crazy ramblings and the last thing I need right now is a fucking headache." Jessie glared at Janet, who couldn't seem to get used to her harshness. Janet merely stared at her captain's rudeness.

Janet decided to stay quiet all their way back to the hotel. That would be playing safe, or course. She wouldn't want to get into Jessie's bad side. Not now that they are trailing after their friend Amy Bradshaw. They need to get close to Jessie as close as they can. Janet tried to think of something else, and diverted her attention to the happy thought of her and Dominique while checking out the town, and seeing the beautiful cashmere sweaters on display at one of the boutiques they had visited. It was then that Janet noticed the smile in Jessie's face; a smile she had never seen before.

"What?" Janet asked.

"What?" Jessie asked in return, clueless as to why Janet was even talking to her.

"Why are you smiling?" Janet frowned. Smiling isn't normal for Jessie. Normally, her smiles are either sarcastic or just full of mischief. A real smile, that's what she have never seen from Jessie… Until now.

"Why shouldn't I be?" Jessie asked in return, still smiling. Janet was actually expecting a growl.

"You're weird."

"Said the girl who has fetish for cashmeres." Jessie chuckled, which intrigued Janet even more. She couldn't tear her eyes away from her captain 'til they reached the hotel. But Jessie didn't say a word after that. She just headed to her room, still with a smile on her face.

Back at the house by the lake… Katie and Tad were sitting side by side on the couch watching one of their favorite tv series, 'Prison Break'.

"I can't believe they killed off Veronica." Tad motioned to the tv, emphasizing his point.

"Hmmhmm." It was Katie's only response. It had been the only word, if that could even be considered as a word, in the past hour.

"I mean, how are Michael and Lincoln supposed to prove Linc's innocence, if they don't even know where the alive Terrence Steadman really is? Veronica is the only one who knows and they killed her!" Tad exclaimed in disbelief.

"Hmm…" Was Katie's only response again. Tad, finally noticing Katie's lack of attention, turned his head to look at his bestfriend.

"Are you even watching?"

"Huh?" Katie turned to meet Tad's gaze.

"What's up with you?" Tad narrowed his eyes at her.

"Nothing." _'Except that I feel like I couldn't breathe in the last sixty minutes…' _Oh no, believe me, it's not a medical condition; just a weird choking feeling without any probable cause.

"You seem too distracted… Or maybe you're just too tired. Do you want me to go?" Tad asked in concern.

"Would it be okay with you? I feel a bit sleepy. It's been a long day at school, and I really just want to go to bed." Katie said apologetically.

"It's fine, Katie. Anyway, it's late. I really should get going anyway. Goodnight." Tad got up from his seat and kissed Katie on the cheek goodnight.

"Try not to hit someone on your way home, alright?" Katie joked.

"Ha-ha… See you tomorrow." Tad then headed for the door, and closed it behind him. Katie had been staring at the door since Tad closed it, then shook her head out of her daze. She then got up from the couch and headed to the kitchen, opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. She needed a drink so bad.

And, after a moment of thinking, Katie grabbed her car keys, and headed off to the night.

At the Hyatt, the original members of the DEBS top squad gathered for a secret meeting at Max's room again.

"Report." Max said hastily, ordering her squad to relay any information that might help them in protecting Amy, and at the same time, Lucy, from their arrogant and self-righteous captain.

"First contact initiated at 1900 hours." Janet, who was sitting at a vanity chair in front of Max and Dominique informed them, apparently anxious at the reaction her news might generate from her friends. Max and Dominique exchanged looks.

"Contact?" Max repeated, making sure she heard Janet right. When Janet nodded in affirmative, Max's jaw dropped in disbelief. In exasperation, Dominique got up from her seat at the edge of the bed beside Max, flicked her cigarette then lifted it up to her lips, then puffed smoke into the air. Janet dangerously eyed the cigarette of Dominique's hand. She hates cigarettes.

"Unbelievable! I thought she said SURVEILLANCE!" Dominique raised her free hand in fury. '_Some captain who couldn't keep her word…' _She thought.

"Well, Jessie didn't exactly do it on purpose." Jane continued, anticipating the glares that her friends were now giving her.

"Are you defending her? 'Coz that wouldn't be a smart thing for you to do right now." Max growled at Janet. Janet visibly flinched.

"No, but that's what happened." Janet said carefully, making sure she's sitting far enough from Max to avoid any possible injuries. Max is a real psychotic at times. Max then eyed her suspiciously, while Dominique merely shrugged, again flicking the cigarette in her right hand. The ashes made its way to Max's carpeted hotel room floor, but despite of the fact that this was driving Max nuts, she tried to focus on the issue at hand. Amy and Lucy are her priorities right now.

"As planned, we did the surveillance at subject's lake house." Janet continued. "The lack of adrenalin rush got into Jessie, I supposed, 'coz we were at the stake out for like an hour and there wasn't any sign of Singer around. So, dear captain decided to snoop around a bit, you know, hoping to find clues regarding Lucy Diamond, and before she could even cross the street, this lunatic driver comes around the corner, almost hitting Jessie with his really nice Porsche." Janet explained what happened at their stake out.

"Porsche?" Max and Dominique said at the same time, both forming the same conclusion in their minds. Not everyone in Barcelona drives a Porsche.

"So, she's at the hospital right now?" Dominique asked, rather hopefully. Janet scowled at her colleague's insolence. Even though she doesn't like Jessie that much, she knew she deserves some respect. After all, she was just doing her job.

"I said 'almost', French girl. I thought you got better in English." Janet rolled her eyes, while Max fixed her eyes on her impatiently.

"And now?" Max obviously couldn't wait to hear how the interaction between Jessie and their subject went.

"Well, since Jessie was fine, and since Katie and her boyfriend---"

"Bestfriend." Dominique looked very thrilled to correct her.

"Tad isn't her boyfriend?" Janet's eyes widened in disbelief. She remembered hearing Katie call the driver 'Tad', and immediately assumed they were a couple 'coz they are definitely cute together and Janet's a sucker for romance.

"No, but what do you need a boyfriend for?" Dominique said heedlessly.

"Enough with the boyfriend crap! Will you guys focus?!" Max yelled at Dominique and Janet, and as usual had that intimidating effect on both of them 'coz they both shut up at the same time. Realizing it was her cue to continue, Janet spoke again.

"Based on what I saw and heard, subject is definitely racked with guilt, that she even invited Jessie in for a drink."

"Shit." Max cursed under her breath. "She's gonna use that guilt." Max said knowingly. Not knowing what to say nor do at the moment, the three sat in silence, trying to determine what could possibly be going inside Jessie's head.

'_Amy, where in the world are you?' _Max thought about her bestfriend, hoping she's doing fine, and hopefully safe with Lucy. How she hoped the two weren't in Barcelona.

Max loves going out on missions. Crime fighting is her life, she wouldn't trade it for anything. She WOULD go even to the deadliest missions and she wouldn't have complained. She never thought her heart would refuse to accept a mission, ever. She never thought she had a weakness, but now, her heart was acting otherwise.

Max Brewer was scared, now for the first time in her life, and she wasn't scared of getting killed… She was afraid of accomplishing their mission and catching the 'bad guys': a.k.a. Lucy Diamond, and her bestfriend, perfect score Amy Bradshaw.

'_A fucking test of loyalty…' _This is a mission Max loathes. It was still shocking that Ms. Petrie chose their squad to go after the notorious supervillain and the squad's own former captain. But then again, they wanted to know what side they were in, right? Max would bet her life that the Academy is probably just waiting for them to do one wrong move, and then they'd do their thing. '_One wrong move and they'll probably send us to Siberia or something…' _Max pondered.

Max, Janet and Dominique almost jumped out of their skins at the sudden beeping of their watch. Sighing after realizing that it was just their watch, they exchanged looks, 'til Jessie's face appeared on the watch and summoned them to her room for an emergency briefing. Reluctantly, they headed to the captain's hotel room.

Meanwhile, at the other side of the city, Katie Singer, not being able to sleep despite of the thousand turns she made in her bed, grabbed her car keys and went through the night. After a few minutes of lunatic driving (she's worse than Tad, you might want to know), her red convertible entered a rather bushy area just outside the city. It crossed a thick grow of trees and she had to endure total darkness (thanks to her headlights), before finally reaching her destination. It was 1 in the morning and was eerily quiet. She saw an old Caddy outside a simple countryside home.

'_I wonder if she's awake…' _Katie thought, as she got out of her convertible, walked to the front door of the house, and knocked. Nobody answered the door. Lucy and Amy are probably asleep, heck, it's morning already, of course they're asleep. Katie tried knocking again to no avail. She reached for the doorknob, just to check, and to her displeasure, the door budge.

"Lucy, you're such a flake." Katie said under her breath, chastising her sister in her head. Lucy just couldn't do anything right. She then entered the house, carefully looking around. She made her way inside, appreciating the effort Tad had done in furnishing the house in such short period of time. She knew she has the greatest bestfriend in the world. She locked the door behind her.

Katie continued walking around, and her eyes stop at the mess on the dining table. She looked in disgust: not only her sister was a flake, she was also a crowned slob. She couldn't help but shake her head.

'_How did she make Amy fall for her?' _Katie chuckled at the question in her head. So her sister and her girlfriend are probably sleeping, but she's not gonna go back to her house by the lake and sit alone 'til morning. It's about time to make Lucy pay for all the transgressions. She's gonna wake her up and drive her crazy 'til morning. Great plan.

Katie walked through a short corridor, with one door on either side. Heading to the room where she knew the two were staying, she opened the door without knocking. And her jaw dropped straight to the wooden floor upon seeing the two half-naked bodies lying on the bed (thanks to the blanket that was covering the other half of them). Shocked and embarrassed, Katie immediately shut the door, which consequently woke the tanned brunette up…

Back at the Hyatt Hotel… Jessie was sitting sternly on the couch when she heard the knocks on her door. She got up and opened it, letting her squad members in. The three followed her and when she occupied her former seat, Max, Janet and Dominique sat opposite her.

"Brewer, report." Jessie said authoritatively at Max. Max's face remained calm and stoic.

"Subject is Barcelona Law School's crowned jewel. Popular, and at the same time, notorious, when it comes to dating men. Straight A student, Class A varsity swimmer---" Max was cut off.

"Tell me something that I don't already know." Jessie sneered at her, crossing her arms. Max could feel the blood rushing into her head, but calmed herself.

"Gorgeous subject kicks ass." Dominique grinned at the thought of the incident that happened between that Spanish guy and Katie that afternoon.

"Hmm, interesting. Well, she IS Lucy Diamond's sister after all." Jessie said casually. "Whose ass did she kick, yours?" Jessie grinned wickedly at Max. Max arched an eyebrow, but remained cool.

"I highly doubt that…" Max retorted.

"Anyway, enough with the initial surveillance, we're going in." Jessie informed her team. Janet's eyes widened.

"What?" Janet was reluctant.

"Relax, Janet, you'd still be working behind the scenes." Jessie reassured Janet. Janet was able to let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, great, I'm liberated." Max said sarcastically, but to Dominique's and Janet's surprise, Jessie merely ignored her.

"The Academy had already set up our base: a small house downtown with force field and the equipments that we will need for the mission. Of course, we're gonna have to pretend that we're roommates, just in case that need arises. But Katie Singer is not to see you, as far as it is possible. I'm the only one whose allowed to have contact with her, and you guys, of course, gets the honor to be my back up. Just in case." Jessie faked smile.

"Surprise surprise, always your way, Sammler." Max remarked lazily.

"Glad to know that you understand that, Brewer." Jessie grinned.

Outside the city, Katie stormed out of the room, her hands covering her face. She could feel her face burning in embarrassment. Just when she was about to storm out of the house, a commanding voice stopped her from doing so.

"Freeze or you'll die." Lucy's voice came from not so distant. Katie rolled her eyes and turned around, but wasn't surprised to see Lucy pointing a gun at her.

"Try that and I'll kill you too." Katie knew there was no logic in that, but she couldn't really think right now. Seeing Amy sleeping in all her glory was embarrassing enough, seeing her SISTER was another. It makes Katie jump out of her skin.

"Katie? Oh my God, what are you doing here?" Lucy finally recognized her sister and lowered her gun down. She was wearing nothing but a blanket wrapped loosely around her.

"What the hell are you doing with a gun?" Katie chastised her sister, then walked to the couch and slumped on it.

"It's for protection, doofus." Lucy then walked to Katie's direction and put her gun down the coffee table, sitting beside her sister. "How did you even get in?"

"You know, for a master criminal, your security really is for shit." Katie used Lucy's own words, mocking her. Lucy grinned.

"I see you've learned something." Lucy reached out and touched Katie's hair. Katie winced and shoved Lucy's hand away.

"Euww, Lucy, you obviously just had sex. Don't touch me! God knows what you've been touching in the last three hours!"

"Actually, five." Lucy corrected her. Katie looked repulsed. Reticence isn't her sister's cup of tea.

"Euww! I can't believe I'm stained for life!"

"Will you pipe down? You'll wake Amy up. She hadn't had enough sleep since we ran away at Endgame." Lucy reprimanded Katie.

"I bet." Katie rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you didn't lock the door. You can't be too sloppy."

"Sorry, we got carried away." Lucy's goofy smile made Katie shake her head.

"You are so whipped." Katie chuckled in amusement. She had never seen Lucy like this. Lucy had never been this in love with someone, ever. And just look at the irony of it. Amy was the poster girl of the organization that Lucy loathed for life, the very organization that she bowed to take down. Lucy did use to say that 'a good DEB is a dead DEB.' Now, she's sleeping with one of them.

"Yes I am." Lucy smiled dreamily. Katie stared at her for a moment, still in disbelief that Lucy left her world of crime and chose to hide in the woods with Amy; pretty boring in comparison. Lucy apparently had relaxed despite the nakedness under the blanket, and leaned back on the couch, just smiling.

"Is sex even possible?" Katie's question came out of the blue, which made Lucy arc her eyebrow.

"What?"

"Between you and Amy." Katie said curiously.

"What happened to 'euww'?" Lucy narrowed her eyes on Katie, while clutching her blanket tight around her. She didn't realize how cold it was until now.

"I'm just curious." Katie focused all her attention to her sister, who was furiously blushing right now.

"Curiosity can kill you." Lucy said, then got up from the couch and headed to the kitchen to get some water. This talk with her younger sister is making her sweat. Sure, Katie's 22, but she's still her younger STRAIGHT sister. Katie followed her hastily.

"I don't care. You'll kill whatever kills me." Katie said knowingly.

"True, but that's not funny. And stop asking questions. You're freaking me out." Lucy paused before opening the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water. She opened the bottle of water and drank almost half of it.

"You know, you look kind'a funny turning all red like that." Katie chuckled. Katie then sat on the countertop, just watching Lucy's back. Lucy then turned around with a scowl plastered in her face.

"Are you making fun of me?"

"No, but you look really hilarious." Katie was laughing harder now. Lucy sulked like a five-year old kid as she watched Katie. "Lighten up, Lucy, I'm supposed to be the uptight one here." Katie was still laughing. Realizing that she might have hurt Lucy's feelings for real, Katie finally stopped laughing.

"Come on Lucy, you know I wasn't making fun of you… After all those years of not having you around, I kind'a missed on the messing-around-with-my-sister stuff…" Katie smiled reassuringly at her. Slowly, a smile formed in Lucy's lips.

"So you came all the way out here at this time of the night, er, morning, just to tell me that you missed me?" Lucy asked in amusement.

"Maybe." Katie smiled. They stared at each other for a while, before Lucy spoke again.

"I'll be right back."

"Okay." Katie replied. Lucy then hurried to her room and got dressed. It didn't take long for her to come back in the kitchen, this time, wearing clothes. Katie was occupying a chair and had fixed herself a cup of coffee. Another mug was set adjacent to hers, which obviously was for Lucy. Lucy pulled a chair, just in front of the other mug and sat on it.

"It was getting cold." Lucy explained before Katie could even ask. Katie had to chuckle. Lucy picked up her mug of coffee and sipped from it.

"How's Amy?"

"Sound asleep. I pretty much worn her out. Happens all the time." Lucy said with all the suaveness she could muster and grinned. She knew that would annoy her undeniably straight younger sister.

"Euww, overshare." Katie winced. It was Lucy's time to laugh. Katie smiled. She smiled and stared down at her cup of coffee. She had never felt this happy.

"So, tell me the truth, little sis, why are you here?" Lucy fixed her eyes on Katie. Katie rolled her eyes at the mention of 'little'.

"Stop calling me 'little' sis. I'm taller than you." Katie grumbled. This time, it was Lucy who rolled her eyes.

"You are three years younger than me, so, technically, you ARE my little sis." Lucy explained logically. She has a point, really. Katie just didn't feel like being called 'little'.

"'Sis' alone would do it, thanks." Katie faked a smile.

"Okay 'sis alone'." Lucy joked. Katie couldn't help but laugh. Despite of how shallow her sister is, she could still make her laugh. "You can't sleep, can you?" Lucy asked knowingly. She can basically feel what's bothering Katie.

"Yeah." Katie said with a nod. When she looked up at Lucy, she could read the question she was about to ask her in her eyes.

"Let me guess. You decided to drive all the way out here, in the outback---"

"Isn't the outback in Australia?" Katie frowned.

"Okay fine, so you're the smart one, I get that." Lucy said dismissively so Katie would get the message and stop interrupting her. Katie snickered again. Lucy rolled her eyes but continued anyway. "You came all the way to this wilderness, so you could wake me up and force me to brood with you 'til morning?"

"Oh, you missed the 'so I could catch you and your girlfriend having sex' part." Katie joked. The comment made Lucy blush again but she laughed with Katie anyway. Not all sisters are as open-minded as hers.

"Sorry you missed that." Lucy said, still laughing.

"Yeah, that would have been the time of my life." Katie laughed again.

"Seriously, did you come here to brood? 'Coz I could just stay here and sleep on the table, you could watch me sleep, then you can brood all you want. What do you say?" Lucy plastered a toothy grin. Katie frowned at her and threw a cube of sugar into her face, hitting Lucy in the forehead.

"Aww… You're dead." Lucy gave Katie a mocking glare.

"Oh really?" Katie grinned, challenging Lucy. Lucy then grabbed a cube of sugar and threw it at Katie's direction, only it didn't hit Katie. "For a criminal, you're such a sissy." Katie laughed. Lucy's jaw dropped.

"You didn't just say that."

"Sissy." Katie grinned even more. It's so much fun just playing around with Lucy.

"You'll wish you were never born Singer!" Lucy got up from her seat to tackle Katie down, but Katie was fast enough. She immediately ran to the other side of the table.

"Bring it on, Diamond!" Katie then ran to the living room, with Lucy running after her. Before Katie could jump behind the couch, Lucy managed to grab the back of her shirt and pulled her back, which caused Katie to fall on the floor, creating a really loud thud. Lucy moved faster and pinned Katie down so she could tickle her. Katie couldn't stop laughing. But of course, strategies on how to topple her sister over and gain the advantage had been running through Katie's brilliant mind.

_One, two, three… _One smooth move and Katie managed to bring Lucy down, now she's pinning the elder one down, and was ticking Lucy to death. Lucy was laughing like hell when she and her sister froze at the sound of a familiar voice.

"Freeze and get on your knees!" Amy still couldn't take the DEBS out of her. Katie and Lucy's eyes shot to Amy's direction. She was holding a gun, just like what Lucy had done a while ago. Katie didn't move, she didn't have to, 'coz technically, she's already on her knees (while presently straddling Lucy). Lucy, in the meantime, smiled sheepishly at her girlfriend.

"Hi honey." Lucy smiled at her.

"Do you guys really have to sleep with guns under your bed?" Katie's eyes widened. Amy, after recognizing Katie and Lucy, finally lowered her gun, sighing in relief and annoyance.

"Pillow, actually." Lucy corrected her.

"What are you two doing?" Amy shook her head out of her sleep. After hearing the really loud noises, she immediately jumped out of bed, managed to throw a shirt and boxer shorts to cover herself, snatched the gun under her pillow and was prepared to rescue Lucy, only to find these siblings wrestling each other at 2 in the morning.

"Sorry baby, did we wake you?" Lucy started getting up from the floor as Katie got off of her. Katie rolled her eyes.

"She IS awake, Lucy. She's standing right there." Katie motioned to where Amy was standing.

"Oh, right, sorry." Lucy smiled stupidly. Amy couldn't help but smile now. Katie exudes the exact same aura as Lucy. All the annoyance of being woken up at dawn melted at the sight of the two. "We were just, uh, playing around. You know, sister stuff." Lucy said sheepishly.

Amy stared at Lucy, finding her so adorable right now. Well, she would have run into her arms and would have given her the most passionate kiss Lucy would ever experience, if it wasn't for Katie's presence. '_Better wait 'til the sister is gone 'coz you'll never know what could happen…' _Amy chuckled at her own naughty thought.

"Well… This is weird. I'm just gonna go back to sleep. You two just… Bond. But don't kill each other, okay?" Amy smiled at them.

"I can't promise you that." Katie joked. Lucy acted like she was going to protest, but Amy turned to leave.

"Goodnight Katie."

"Yeah, goodnight Amy." Katie smiled at Amy as Amy made her way back to the bedroom. When Amy was finally out of sight and out of earshot, Katie turned to Lucy with a glare. "Why can some people be decent and you can't?" Katie narrowed her eyes on Lucy. At least Amy had managed to wear a shirt and some shorts, Lucy basically just ran after her naked if it wasn't for the blanket.

"Can you blame me? I thought we were being attacked!" Lucy said defensively. "And how come you get a goodnight and I don't?" Lucy pouted like a child. Katie just had to hit her in the head.

"Aww, you're testing my patience, Singer."

"Do you still need a goodnight after spending a good part of five hours doing… Whatever it was you were doing?" Katie frowned at Lucy. A grin crept through Lucy's face.

"Each other." Lucy grinned, intending to annoy her sister even more.

"Decency just isn't your cup of tea, is it?" Katie shook her head and proceeded to the kitchen.

"What can I say, I don't drink tea." Lucy replied and followed Katie. Katie rolled her eyes.

"You know, sometimes, I still doubt that you're the master criminal they are describing on tv."

"Why don't you stop hitting my ego and let me kick your ass for a change?" Lucy joked.

"Speaking of kicking someone's ass, do you know that I kicked the lights out of Antonio yesterday?" Katie chuckled at the memory of Antonio wincing while lying down the grass in the middle of the football field.

"Really? Interesting. By the way, who's Antonio?"

At the Hyatt, Max, Janet and Dominique were finally dismissed. Despite of Jessie's not so solid plan (or Max thinks so), keeping tabs on Katie Singer might actually be the best possible plan drafted for this mission. There are complications, of course: they'll be using Singer's emotions against her, something that Max isn't so thrilled of doing. Not that she haven't done it before, it's part of a spy's job when going undercover. It's just that somehow, though they haven't met in person, she felt sympathetic towards Katie. If it was because Katie was a clean-living law student who never had a brush with the law ever, or if it was because Lucy's sister, she isn't really sure. Max was never close to Lucy, no; but she's Amy's soulmate, and Amy's her bestfriend. Whichever reason it was, Max couldn't tell, and it doesn't really matter to know anyway. Eventually, someone's gonna get hurt, and there's no doubt that it's gonna be Lucy's sister.

'_And Amy's probably gonna kill me…'_ Max sighed.

Jessie watched as her squad left the door one by one. Max closed the door behind her, as she was the last to leave, and Jessie remained sitting on her seat, staring at the closed door. She felt kind'a light. Weird, really. It's hard to tell why. Maybe it's because they're getting close to getting the mission done. It doesn't seem like Katie Singer was gonna give her a hard time despite the news of her not being too friendly. She maybe a notorious criminal's sister, but with a definitely good heart.

'_Life's irony…' _Jessie laughed to herself. Then she went to bed.

Back at the wilderness, Lucy and Katie were now sharing a bowl of cereal. Lucy laughed so hard at Katie's story about beating her persistent and cocky suitor Antonio. Their conversation had basically turned to everything about Katie's celebrated stay at the Barcelona Law School and her date disasters.

"I'm so proud of you Katie. With what you've done with school, and sports, and…" Lucy then turned seriously at Katie.

"Geez, tears." Katie joked, lifting her right hand into her face and mocking a falling tear. Lucy gave her a slight push on the shoulder, laughing.

"You know, you're so good at ruining the moment. You should start seeing a therapist. Maybe that would help you keep your dates." Lucy said, half-meaning her joke.

"Not that I need it. I mean, why do people have a problem with me not being with anyone, when I don't? Sure, I want to have someone, but I'm not gonna force myself to like somebody I'm not a bit fond of."

"You still believe that someone's gonna come and just sweep you off your feet?" Lucy looked straight into Katie's eyes. Katie looked up at her, meeting her gaze. She momentarily played with her spoon, unconsciously.

"Yeah." Katie smiled then leaned back, gazing into space, going into deep thought. Lucy noticed this, and took the opportunity to watch her usually normal sister looking so faraway, despite of sitting near her right now.

"Me too." Lucy smiled, breaking Katie's thoughts. Amy DID sweep her off her feet the first time she saw her closely at their encounter at the Les Deux Amour warehouse.

Katie looked up at her again. She then picked up her spoon and lifted a spoonful of cereal into her mouth. This is the first breakfast with her sister after so many years, she's kind of… What's that word… OVERJOYED.

"I'm still kind'a nervous, maybe that's why I couldn't sleep. I'm sorry if I wake you." Katie said, changing the subject.

"Why, what happened?" Lucy asked in concern, her eyebrow furrowing in curiosity, hoping it doesn't have anything to do with her or Amy.

"Tad almost hit someone with his car." Katie let out a short chuckle. Looking back, it seemed funny to her now, especially the look on her bestfriend's face when she scolded him in front of this beautiful blue-eyed blonde…

"What?" Lucy looked alarmed.

"Jessie was fine… She did look a bit shaken, I mean, who wouldn't be? I wanted to kick Tad for being too clumsy but I didn't have much time to do that. I had to check out if she's okay first." Katie smiled again. Lucy assumed 'Jessie' must be the girl that Tad almost hit.

"And you're still nervous, because…?" Lucy asked, frowning. So the girl was fine. Big deal. What's there to worry about? Unless the girl's gonna sue, of course. Or does Katie even have to worry about that too?

"Because we almost hit her." Katie explained simply.

"You weren't even driving." Okay, so maybe Katie was worried about Tad.

"I was there." Katie was getting annoyed at Lucy for not getting it.

"So?" Lucy frowned even more. Katie looked at Lucy in disbelief.

"I haven't seen anyone get hit by anything, okay? So I assume you'd understand why this is kind'a traumatizing for me right now. I almost saw someone get hurt." Katie said hastily. Lucy was rather amused at her sister's crazy explanation.

"Uh… Okay." Lucy said, not wanting to flare Katie even more. '_Okay, watch out for bratty little sister…' _Lucy thought.

"My heart is still hammering in my chest, feel it." Katie moved closer so Lucy could reach her. Lucy was weirded out, but lifted her heart to feel Katie's heart anyway. And her jaw dropped.

"What the hell, something's wrong with your heart." Lucy frowned.

"I told you I'm still nervous." Katie sighed.

At the Hyatt, Jessie had been lying in her bed for two hours, and still, she couldn't fall asleep. Feeling agitated, Jessie got up, turned her laptop computer on, and started reading the old reports about Lucy Diamond the DEBS Academy had emailed her, per her request. She kept reading, but some sort of urge was keeping her from concentrating on anything…

Deciding that it's time to go to sleep, and because she's gonna have to wake up early tomorrow, Jessie started the close the opened windows in her laptop, but paused before totally turning the laptop off. There, in her desktop icons, one stood out.

The file which read 'Mission: Barcelona Undercover'. Debating with herself whether to open it or not, the urge was too strong to resist.

She clicked the icon, clicked on some other emblems until she reached the particular part of the file that she wanted to see.

A close up picture of Katie Singer zooms into the screen. Jessie leaned back into her chair, staring at the picture…

She wasn't able to sleep until morning.


	5. Subterfuge

**CHAPTER 5SUBTERFUGE**

"Boo!" Tad yelled behind Katie, purposely catching her off-guard. Katie, who was walking out of the school campus that time, jerked , and as if in automatic, her fist went flying at Tad's direction in self-defense as she made a sudden turn, hitting Tad painfully in his stomach. Tad fell on the floor, wincing in pain. It was only then that Katie realized it was just her bestfriend. Students who saw the incident couldn't help but snickered at the scene, making Tad blush.

"Don't ever do that again!" Katie bent down to help Tad up. Tad tried to get up on his feet, holding his tummy which was hurting really bad.

"God, Katie, I think you smashed me really bad." Tad's face contorted, lines drawing in his forehead as he scrunched up his nose.

"What the hell did you do that for?!" Katie asked furiously, while helping Tad get on his feet.

"I was just playing around. You didn't have to hit me!" Tad tried walking, with Katie walking beside him.

"Well, forgive me if I'm a little jumpy. I hope you understand that I'm a little bit paranoid nowadays." Katie gave him one strong poke on the side. She was pretty sure Tad understood what she meant anyway. He's the one who helped her find a house for Lucy and Amy in the wilderness. It wasn't that hard, since Tad has a lot of connections, his parents being one of the biggest teams in real estate industry in Europe. Tad had to use his own name in purchasing the said place, to protect the people whose now living there. He's also theone who helped Katie buy a new car for Lucy and Amy. Lucy's Caddy is going to have to go on its own hiding too.

"You still didn't have to hit me." Tad was still wincing in pain.

"You didn't have to scare me." Katie retorted. Tad then shut up for a while, taking in all the pain in his stomach. After a few steps and a few curious looks from the Barcelona students, Tad finally felt the pain subside, and let out a deep sigh.

"If you're trying to scare people away, I swear you're doing it right. Guys would be too scared to ask you out on a date now."

"Good then." Katie was rather relieved. Both of them were heading to the parking area, having finished all their classes for the day. Remembering that there was something he needed to say to Katie, Tad continued.

"Do you still want to invest in real estate? I've already talk to my dad. The board had already authorized the selling of a significant amount of their treasury stocks." He and Katie had already discussed about this, in connection with Lucy's plan of doing legal business for a living and for a change, which doesn't seem feasible right now with her current 'wanted' situation. So, investing in stocks (especially in real estate), in Katie's name, seemed like the best idea at the moment. Good thing Tad's family is into real estate.

"When do I meet with your dad?"

"He's still on business tour with the board in Egypt and wouldn't be coming back 'til next week. He promised he'd call as soon as he gets back… He seemed thrilled with the idea of doing business with you. TOO thrilled actually. He still doesn't buy the story that we're not dating and had never dated. I hate disillusioning him, but he really have to stop entertaining the idea of US getting married someday." Tad shuddered at the idea.

"Euww… Did you tell him that you're not my type?" Katie winced.

"No. But I told him that YOU'RE not my type." Tad laughed and got hit at the shoulder. "Aww, Katie, you should be a boxer."

"I will, if you're going to be my very own punching bag." Katie grinned.

"Brat." Tad scowled at her. After another few steps, the two reached the parking area. "So, where are you headed?" Tad asked her. Katie then jumped into her convertible, and reached for her keys from the small pocket of her handbag and inserted it into the keyhole to start her car.

"Workout. You coming or what?" Katie turned the keys and the engine roared into life. Tad shook his head.

"Nah, I got a date."

"Why am I not surprised?" Katie grinned. Tad merely ignored his bestfriend's evocative comment.

"See you tomorrow, Katie." Tad smiled, waving at her as she put the convertible on the move.

"Okay." Katie smiled and waved back, then speeded into the highway.

Meanwhile, at a distance not so far away from where Tad and Katie had parted, a silver Mercedez Benz followed after Katie, and behind it, a not so posh-looking black mini van.

"Then I guess I'm working out too." Jessie said, more to herself than to her back up who were presently listening and waiting for her instructions through their hidden camera and radio. She drove the Mercedez in a speed that was enough to catch up with Katie, without being noticed. The mini van, which was trailing after her, enclosed the three other DEBS inside.

After a not so long drive, Katie's car parked in front of what seemed like a clubhouse. When Katie finally entered the place, Jessie parked at the other side, and the mini van, at another distance. Discreetly, Jessie followed Katie inside.

"Subject finally checked in. I'm going in." Jessie whispered (the very tiny receiver of her radio communicator lodged in her right ear, obscuring it from other people's view, and the small camera installed in the upper button of her baby blue blouse), and watched from the corner of her eye as Katie made her way to a door that she was pretty certain leads to the Olympic size swimming pool where she usually trains or works out. On the other hand, Max, Dominique and Janet watched the feedback of Jessie's camera on a tv set, set up expertly inside their mini van.

"_Copy that." _Max replied in boredom. Dominique's eyes were focused on the tv, and as usual, was holding a stick of lit cigarette on her right hand. She lifted it to her mouth and started puffing smoke, to Janet's utter annoyance. Janet turned their radio off as she castigated Dominique.

"Will you stop that?" Janet growled at Dominique. The French spy merely sneered at her. "You're gonna kill us with that thing." Janet continued but was unsuccessful in stopping Dominique. Janet couldn't do anything but shake her head.

"I wish Amy was here. I miss her." Janet sighed. Max turned to her with a big frown in her face.

"I wish she isn't, 'coz the last thing I want is for Jessie to catch her and Lucy this soon. I HOPE she never catches them at all." Max glowered at her. Janet rolled eyes.

"That's not what I meant. I just mean that… You know, I just wish that things weren't as screwed up as it is now, that she's till with us, doing the DEBS thing, catching the bad guys and---"

"And falling for one of them?" Max added. She doesn't have as much grudge against Lucy as she had before Amy ran away with her. Her bestfriend was already three thousand miles away from them when she finally understood fully what Amy had done. It was a brave thing for her to do, to run away with a master criminal and risk a very good life for this… For love… And now, despite of the great things this love has done for them (the reformation of Lucy Diamond and Amy going AWOL on the Academy to finally pursue Art), the consequences are haunting them now.

"She just did what makes her happy, Janet. And isn't that what all of us want for her?" It was one of the rare times that Max sympathized with Janet. Janet managed to force a smile.

"I know that… But you can't blame me if I still wish for things to have been different between her and Lucy." Janet replied. Max and Dominique frowned. Realizing that the two didn't get what she really meant, Janet explained. "I mean, the criminal mastermind and the DEBS thing." Janet pointed out.

"Oh." Max nodded in agreement. Dominique noticed the camera feedback on tv.

"Look, we've got visual." Dominique focused on the tv. Janet turned the radio communicator on again and Max turned to the tv as well.

Meanwhile, inside the clubhouse, there wasn't any people around except Katie. Jessie stood at the far end of the Olympic size swimming pool, staring at the clear blue water, following Katie Singer's silhouette glide smoothly into her direction. Jessie watched Katie as she swam in freestyle, unconsciously admiring how Katie's long arms and legs move in and out of the water. She doesn't know much about swimming, but understood immediately why Katie was a swimming superstar. Katie was nearing the edge of the pool where Jessie stood when she realized one thing…

"_Sammler, where's your fucking swimsuit?" _Max's annoying voice echoed through Jessie's ear before she could even think anything.

"Shut up, Brewer." Jessie whispered harshly after hearing Max's voice in her ear. Too late for a reminder. She's already in.

'_Holy shit, how can I forget?!' _Jessie was about to turn and make a run to the door before Katie sees her, when she heard the sound of that sexy deep female voice…

"Hi." Katie greeted, while threading at the edge of the pool in front of Jessie, holding on to the border. Slowly, Jessie turned around, for a moment deciding on how to explain. Katie would probably ask what she's doing here. Well, in her plan, she was going to pretend to have the same passion for swimming, and just happened to be there at the same time with Katie for a swim. Only that she chose now to have Alzheimer's and forget to bring anything at all.

'_Lame excuse if you don't have the props, Sammler…' _Jessie cursed herself. How can SHE forget? She NEVER forgets! It's so not like her. Okay, she never had enough sleep last night… Rather, she never got to sleep at all because of 'work' (she studied every detail of Katie's face 'til morning, not really sure if that's gonna help them with the mission or not).

"Jessie?" Katie sounded so surprised, in a good way. Jessie was standing in front of her, looking back at her. Katie smiled. She never thought she'd see the girl again. But she wished she would. She isn't really sure why.

"Hi Katie." Jessie said casually. Good thing she's good at this 'lying' thing. She may not be the perfect liar, but she's good enough. After all she wouldn't be captain of the top squad if she didn't score high in the subterfuge part of the SAT's.

"What are you doing here?" Not that Katie mind. She was so glad to see Jessie again. But still, she's in disbelief. Hoping to see someone you know nothing about was weird enough. Seeing that one person you've been thinking about the whole day without having any valid reason at all was weirder. But finding the answer to her questions was far from Katie's concerns right now.

"Swimming." Jessie flashed her naturally sexy smile at Katie. Katie, on the other hand, just couldn't take her eyes off the blonde girl.

'_There's just something about her…' _Katie thought, then eyed the other girl from head to toe… Jessie slightly felt awkward under the brunette's stare, but a part of her was liking the way Katie's looking at her…

'_What way?' _Jessie castigated herself for her lack of focus. It's enough that she forgot her gym bag this morning. Max would surely use that to mock her for the rest of her life for being such a flaky control freak, if that even makes sense.

"On your jeans?" Katie joked. Jessie slightly blushed. Nobody could ever make her blush! Well, until now…

"Of course not." Jessie replied sheepishly.

"Hmm… You can swim with me, if you want. I'm kind'a bored and needing some company anyway. My bestfriend's out pestering the female population again." Katie chuckled. Jessie couldn't help but laugh with her.

"You wouldn't mind?" Jessie asked, sounding hopeful.

"I'd love to have you around…" Katie smiled, and almost finished her sentence with the phrase 'all the time'. Katie bit her own tongue. _'What the hell was that about?' _Katie's heartbeat that had been beating frantically, which is only normal after swimming a few lapses, had doubled upon seeing Jessie unexpectedly. Shrugging the weird feelings off, which she characterized as sheer trauma in connection with the accident almost caused by Tad, Katie tried to focus on Jessie's presence instead of her turbulent heart…

She didn't realize that Jessie had been watching her, and smiled upon seeing her unconscious pouting when she fell into her cloud.

Katie was about to give Jessie the directions to the locker rooms where she can change into her swimsuit when Jessie, without warning, just unbuttoned the front of her baby blue blouse, and took it off gently. Her creamy white skin slowly revealing in front of Katie's eyes… She was momentarily taken aback. She's used to people, specifically female, undressing in front of her; she's a swimmer for God's sake. Showering with a dozen of other naked female swimmers was just one of the things Katie had gotten used to. No big deal, right? Nothing she has never seen before. But somehow, she felt her face burning in embarrassment as she stared at Jessie take off her clothes. An imaginary lump formed in her throat, to Katie's confusion. She immediately turned her eyes away to avoid looking.

"Uhm…" Katie cleared her throat, which didn't escape Jessie's ears. Jessie had seen the way Katie reacted, something she didn't expect… "What are you doing?" Katie continued, trying to act all normal and comfortable.

'_Jessie undressing in front of me is certainly NOT comfortable! I should be blaming Lucy and Amy for this…' _Katie's thoughts roared in her head, remembering the night when she sneaked into their house and caught them cuddled with each other in their nakedness that freaked her out. Maybe that scene caused her some trauma too.

"Changing." Jessie said nonchalantly. She's not stupid. She could feel the effect she's having on Katie. What kind of effect it was, she has a hunch… No harm if she tries to find out.

"People could walk in on you. Barcelona people aren't really that keen on seeing naked Americans around." Katie tried to explain. Jessie merely grinned, seductively.

"So if I was Spanish, it wouldn't be weird?" Jessie asked playfully. Katie couldn't find anything to say. Jessie just grinned at Katie's lack of response.

"Too bad… I guess they're just gonna have to dream about it then." Jessie chuckled and took her pants off. Katie blushed even more at the sight of Jessie standing in front of her, in her sexy black lingerie, and feeling the sudden lack of oxygen in her lungs. Jessie continued. "I forgot my swimsuit, would it be okay?" She asked, referring to the use of her lingerie instead of swimsuit.

"Yeah, sure." Katie replied, her voice in a slightly higher octave. She smiled at Jessie, then began threading away from the side of the pool. Jessie lowered herself to the water, and joined the star swimmer in seconds.

Meanwhile, at the mini van, the three other DEBS remained watching. Jessie strategically had left her blouse on the side of the pool, where it can still have a good view of her and Katie. Jessie had stuffed her radio communicator on the small pocket of her jeans when she took it off, since it wasn't water resistant, so the DEBS sat inside their van as if watching a silent movie. But the last conversation that they heard definitely stimulate her curiosity.

"Is she flirting with Singer?" Max voiced out her suspicions in disbelief. Okay, Jessie was almost caught there, but proved that she's as brilliant as she claims to be. She managed to pull off a good lie, and no doubt, she's good at it.

"Uh-huh." Dominique answered knowingly. She was the expert in seduction after all.

"Why?" Max frowned in confusion.

"Because she can…" Dominique remarked, looking nonplussed. She then lit a cigarette and lifted it to her mouth.

"Am I missing something here?" Max complained. Janet watched Dominique curiously.

"I didn't know Jessie was gay?" Janet couldn't help but join the conversation. Thinking about the problem with the DEBS that might have caused Amy and now Jessie to act so… She couldn't even find the word to describe it. _'Has the world really gone insane?' _Janet shook her head in disappointment.

"Jessie ISN'T gay, she's a SPY." Dominique emphasized.

"Seducing the straightest girl I've ever seen? Doesn't make any sense." Max turned her head back to the monitor. Dominique let out a short chuckle. She was amused at her former captain's naivety when it comes to seduction. Max maybe brilliant in a lot of things, but seduction isn't one of her games. Her lack of love life could explain it all. Max glared at her after hearing her laugh.

"Actually, it does make a lot of sense…" Dominique saw the mystified looks on both her friends' faces, and shook her head in disbelief. Her teammates are just not getting it.

"Jessie can see through her. Jessie can seduce her. Jessie can get the straight girl. Believe me, she's as talented as Lucy Diamond, hotter, even. If Lucy could get the perfectly straight perfect score, then Jessie, one of DEBS' finest, could DEFINITELY get the confused and lonesome rich girl." Dominique explained. Max and Janet exchanged alarmed looks. Dominique could be right. And if she is, they are screwed.

"So, this is going to be an emotional warfare between the DEBS and Lucy Diamond?" Janet asked worriedly.

"Lucy's weakness is her heart. Everybody knows that now… And there's no reason to doubt that it's the same with her sister. Katie Singer will bring Jessie to Lucy, believe me." Dominique was still in awe of the sacrifices Lucy had done for Amy: dropping out of the whole nine yards, returning the millions and diamonds she stole, laying low from all the adrenalin rush of crime. It's just unbelievable.

"But someone's gonna get hurt." Janet said worriedly.

"And that someone has a kick-ass reputation at a prestigious Barcelona Law School." Max added, seeing the irony of the possible situation.

"That's just so low…" Janet sighed.

"No Janet, that's espionage." Dominique puffed smoke into the air again, and turned her focus back to the monitor.

At the pool, Katie and Jessie made a few lapses and finally, Jessie felt so tired. She haven't been swimming for so long, it's kind'a giving her cramps on her arms and legs. She stopped at the edge of the pool, and Katie stopped beside her. The both clung on to the side.

"Sorry, I'm not as athletic as you." Jessie said while gasping for air. That was some work out.

"That's okay. You almost beat me." Katie grinned, her eyes locking into Jessie's face, which was framed by her beautiful, wet blonde hair… Finally realizing what she had been doing, Katie forced herself to look away, then remembering something.

"You know what? I got to go." Katie was reluctant, but she really has to go. She lifted herself up to the edge of the pool, and for the first time, Jessie saw her out of the water.

Katie was standing on the tiled side of the pool, on her dark blue, two-piece swimsuit. Time for the captain to be rendered speechless. Katie headed to grab her towel at the nearby bench, beside her bag.

'_Okay, this isn't normal…' _Jessie chastised herself again and tried to get back into the game. No one is going to do the seducing here, but her. Well, Katie wasn't even doing anything of the sort. Katie just really had to go and pick up some groceries for Lucy and Amy. But of course, she's not gonna tell Jessie that.

"It's nice swimming with you." _'That sounded lamer than I thought it would…' _Katie mentally smacked herself. Jessie followed her out of the pool.

"Same here." Jessie smiled. She knew she meant it, despite of the hidden agenda that she has. They remained in silence before Katie spoke again.

"Let me guess… You forgot to bring a towel as well." Katie playfully narrowed her eyes on the blonde, and Jessie could feel her face blushing again. Yes, she did forget the towel. In fact, she forgot everything she was supposed to bring to accessorize this act. Thank God, Katie was far from suspecting anything. Looking bashfully adorable, Jessie shook her head. Katie went to grab something from her bag and tossed it to Jessie's direction. Jessie managed to catch it swiftly.

"What's this?" Of course, Jessie knew it was Katie's incredibly fragrant, spare white towel… '_Incredibly fragrant?' _Jessie felt like she was having a glitch in her own head.

"You need some serious drying up. You're gonna wet the seat of your car if you wear those under your clothes without wiping yourself up."

"Don't you need this for yourself?"

"I've got tons… You can have it." Katie smiled again.

"Really? Thanks." Jessie watched as Katie reached for her pair of fresh jogging pants and shirt and got dressed. She didn't bother to go to the locker room, since it seemed like she needs to get out of the clubhouse in a rush.

"Hey, uhm… I don't have much friends around here, since I'm only here for vacation… So, I was wondering if you'd want to hang out some time? You know, when you're not busy swimming or studying…?" Jessie said almost timidly. Katie turned around with a smile for her.

"Sure… When?" Katie said, toning the excitement down. You can't let the other girl see how excited she is about this get-together. That's just weird, right?

"Saturday?" Jessie suggested.

"Great. What do we do?" Katie replied. She doesn't really care what they do. She just wants to hang out with Jessie.

"Uh, I don't know. YOU tell me." Jessie chuckled. She's new in Barcelona and she doesn't know the where-to-go's.

"Okay… I'm sure I can think of something." Katie smiled. "You can drop by my house then. 4pm?"

"Okay."

"You remember my house, right?"

"How can I forget? I'm practically traumatized. I could slap a lawsuit on your friend and demand moral damages for the psychological distress he had put me in." Jessie joked.

"You know, you might actually win." Katie smiled. "Don't worry, I'll make sure that Tad's nowhere near around."

"That's a relief." Jessie chuckled. I'll see you."

"Bye Jess." Katie waved at her. Jessie waved back. And Katie disappeared from her sight. As soon as Katie was out, Jessie dried herself up and jumped into her clothes. She put the radio communicator back into her right ear, and whispered clearly.

"Subject's heading out. Don't lose her. She might be meeting Diamond somewhere. If not, just follow her. Janet, find out every possible route back to subject's home. I'm stationing myself at the particular route her bestfriend had passed upon bringing her home yesterday. Give me a heads up as soon as she heads home, and give me her exact coordinates. I need to penetrate the lakehouse tonight and find clues about Lucy Diamond." Jessie said authoritatively. In the mini van, Max rolled her eyes. As to how she's planning to penetrate the lakehouse, Max could think of so many possibilities.

"_Copy that." _Janet then proceeded to her laptop and started pushing on keys to research the possible routes Katie might use back to her house. Max then went back to the driver's seat and waited for Katie to drive away in her convertible. After a few minutes, Katie was out and driving away, Max trailed her discreetly.

As the DEBS followed, Katie went to stop at a grocery store. Max, Janet, and Dominique waited outside. They don't have a visual of Katie, so Max decides to go in to watch over her. Dominique and Janet stayed inside the mini van.

After getting the possible routes back to Katie's house, Janet contacted Jessie through her celphone and relayed the information. Just when they hung up, Max then communicated with them through her own radio communicator, the same tiny gadget wedged in her ear.

"_Subject's calling someone over the pay phone. Janet, think you can hack the telephone systems and trace her call?" _Max whispered discreetly, making sure no one sees her talking, or people might think she's talking to herself. It was a good thing Jessie was out of range. She has a suspicion as to who Katie might be phoning right now.

"Sure thing, Panther." Janet grinned. Max couldn't help but smile at Janet's use of her code name. Janet turned to face Dominique, who answered before she could even ask.

"Avenida Escolta." Dominique said, referring to the street they were parked. Janet began punching keys on her laptop, easily penetrating the telephone company's database. After a few seconds, Janet was already tracing the call, but frowned.

"_Any ideas?" _Max's voice echoed in the radio communicator Janet has in her own ear. Dominique saw Janet's eyebrows contract.

"What?" Dominique inquired.

"I can't trace the call." Janet stared at the screen of her laptop in disbelief.

"_What?" Why can't you?" _Max fixed her eyes on Katie, who was trying her best to have a very quiet conversation with the person on the other line. Janet paused, punching keys on her laptop over and over again. And, and finally, it dawned on her.

"It's a prepaid number… She's calling a prepaid number." Janet explained, then logged out of the telephone database before she could be traced.

"You think she's calling Lucy?" Dominique asked no one in particular, and Max answered.

"_Hell yeah… Nice move, Diamond." _Max smiled. But despite of her relief that Lucy was smart enough to use a prepaid number, that wouldn't stop Jessie from going after her weakness, the half-sister.

"So, no one could trace her by the phone. That's a good thing, right?" Janet said, sounding hopeful.

"_Yes Janet… Wait, Singer's paying for her stuff, which is more than enough to feed a hundred people in a week. Panther signing off. Dominique, take over the van." _Max then headed ouf of the grocery store and got into the mini van as soon as she can. The engine was already switched on when she came. This time, Dominique was in the driver's seat. Max joined Janet in the back.

"Good work, Janet." She smiled at Janet. Janet was surprised by the rare praise coming from Max, but it was very welcome.

"Thanks."

"Subject's pulling out of the parking area." Dominique informed the group.

"Give her twenty seconds head start, then we follow." Max instructed the French spy. Dominique smiled and gave her a salute.

"Aye aye captain."

"I love the sound of that." Max grinned. It feels so good just to be in control again. Twenty seconds after Katie pulled out of the parking area, the DEBS followed. But to their surprise, Katie made a different turn, a turn away from all of the possible routes back to her house.

"Where is she going? This isn't the way back to the lakehouse." Janet frowned.

"What?" Dominique asked in disbelief.

"Keep following her, Dominique. Janet, are you sure this isn't one of the routes?" Max turned to Janet. Janet keep punching keys on her laptop, showing the Barcelona map on the monitor.

"This is her house." Janet pointed to a certain place in the map. "She either turns right or goes ahead. Turning left is driving too far away from the lakehouse." Janet said.

"Oh my God… She isn't THAT stupid to go visit Lucy at her hiding place at this time of the day, is she?" Max said worriedly.

"I hope not." Dominique whispered, more to herself.

"If Jessie finds this out---" Janet was cut off by Max.

"Jessie's not gonna find out anything. If she's going to see Lucy and Amy today, I'm exposing myself and tell them to run away as far and as fast as they could away from here, before Jessie finds them." Max said firmly. Dominique then sighed, and continued trailing Katie's convertible. After another ten minutes, Katie pulled over at a hotel, gives the key to the valet for parking, and heads inside. The DEBS couldn't follow any further.

"Wait a minute." Janet crawled her way to Dominique's, peeking to see the hotel where they made stop.

"I don't think Amy would agree to check in a hotel such as this one at the risk of getting caught. She is still THE PERFECT SCORE." Dominique remarked. Max looked thoughtfully at the hotel.

"I think you're right. But who's---" This time, it was Janet who interrupted Max.

"Thaddeus Pincus." Janet interjected.

"What?"

"Bestfriend Tad lives here, at Hotel Rembrandt, remember?" Janet said knowingly. Max nodded, after thinking a few seconds and remembering that indeed, this is where Tad lives.

"Does she buy his groceries now?" Dominique frowned in disgust. Serving men isn't one of her best suits. "I thought they are just friends?"

"Of course they're just friends. Tad doesn't even need to go out for groceries." Max grinned, now forming a conclusion as to why Katie was in Tad's home bringing groceries. She didn't have to voice it out, because after a moment of thinking, Janet and Dominique said 'oh' at the same time.

Another thirty minutes of waiting and Katie was back in her convertible again. She had left the groceries in Tad's room, then he'd be the one to bring it over Lucy and Amy's hiding place in the wilderness at midnight. She wished she could bring it to them herself, but it would be too risky for her to see her sister in two consecutive days. She and Lucy agreed to see each other at least once a week. It was painful for Katie, but it was better than having to see Lucy behind bars.

Meanwhile, at Lucy and Amy's hiding place outside the city, the two were cuddled up in the porch; with Lucy positioned behind Amy, her arms wrapped around the beautiful and former DEB. They had been sitting there for an hour, staring at nothing in particular, thinking, and enjoying the quiet time together.

"I'm sorry…" Lucy whispered into Amy's ear.

"What?" Amy said, frowning. She has no idea why Lucy was apologizing. Well, she better not be cheating or else… And realizing that they've never been apart since they ran away at Endgame, cheating seemed to be a preposterous idea, unless Lucy's cheating with a squirrel or something. Amy turned around, so she could now see Lucy's face.

"I said I'm sorry…" Lucy said softly, as she stared back into Amy's blue eyes.

"You didn't do anything wrong." Amy smiled reassuringly at her.

"I didn't mean to… Amy, I just want you to be happy. I took you away from everything and everyone that you love, so I could what, make you one of the world's most wanted? You can't even go out and buy clothes like you used to do before. You can't call your bestfriend Max, or hang out with your weird friends, Janet and Dominique. You're here, stuck with me in the middle of nowhere." Lucy sighed and she sounded so frustrated. Amy smiled, lifted her right hand and started caressing her girlfriend's cheek.

"Is that what you've been thinking in the past hour, that I'm not happy?" Amy asked incredulously.

"Yeah." Lucy replied with a nod.

"Lucy, I am trained to formulate a thousand consequences to consider before executing my thoughts into action. You don't think I've ran those possibilities over my head when I ran away with you?" Amy smiled. "It scared me, that's why I went back to the DEBS, only to find myself running back in your arms again when I saw you at Endgame… Lucy, I love you, and I can never be happier… I feel free, now that I'm with you." Amy said sincerely. Her words touched the former criminal's heart. Lucy leaned over and kissed Amy so passionately, Amy had to pull away when she ran out of air.

"Besides, I don't have to wear that much clothes now anyway…" Amy smiled playfully… Lucy chuckled at her girlfriend's attempt to seduce her.

"I love you so much, Amy…"

"I love you, Lucy…" Amy replied, and Lucy couldn't control herself anymore. She kissed Amy again with so much passion. It took them a while before they could force themselves out of the bench in the front porch and drag themselves into the house.

Back in the city, Katie was driving back to her house. Realizing this, and finding out what route Katie was going to take, Janet called Jessie in her celphone. Katie was heading exactly where Jessie was. After hanging up, Jessie went into action; deflating the right rear tire of her Mercedez. It didn't take long before she saw the form of the familiar convertible heading her way. Jessie then braced herself, acting like she didn't know who was coming.

Katie was driving at 60mph. She then saw the form of a girl standing by a silver Mercedez Benz, looking like she needs help. Katie then pulled over behind the other car, and jumped out of her convertible, only to find---

"Jessie?" Katie couldn't believe her eyes. That was second time that her secret wish was granted today.

"Katie." Jessie acted surprised. From not so far away, the mini van pulled over again. This time, their equipments are getting the feedback from Jessie's camera, and her radio communicator on range.

"It's you again." Katie smiled. Truth is, she didn't want to leave Jessie behind at the clubhouse, but she needed to get the supplies for Lucy and Amy, or her sister and girlfriend will starve to death.

"Yeah, yeah… I was beginning to think you're stalking me." Jessie joked. Okay, let's just say that Jessie's a little overconfident and a bit gutsy.

Jessie's joke made Katie blush. And Katie, on her side, could feel her heart hammering in her chest again, as if trying to get out. She was starting to speculate about having a serious heart problem, 'coz this doesn't seem normal. A heartbeat twice its normal speed is no way near normal, is it? This isn't just about the almost-accident anymore. There's something about Jessie that's making her heart pounce way over than it should. But what could it be? Her instincts are telling her that Jessie's a good person. So, what's the heartbeat all about?

"Oh, I thought you're the one who's stalking me." Katie couldn't think of anything smarter to say. Standing in front of the blue-eyed blonde just makes her act so clumsy and stupid. She had never been this way.

In the mini van, Dominique shook her head. Janet turned her communicator into mute.

"Is it safe to assume that Jessie might be Lucy Diamond's long lost evil twin sister and Katie was adopted?" Janet said seriously. Max chuckled at her friend's train of thought. Jessie definitely is charming. On the other hand, Janet was starting to doubt whether the articles about Katie Singer in the school paper were a hoax, an image-building tactic designed by Katie herself to boost her reputation. But then again, she hated being the center of attention. That is just conflicting everything. Janet turned the sound of their communicator back on.

"So, what happened?" Katie changed the topic. She saw the flat tire abut asked anyway.

"Oh, it's the tire. Unfortunately, I don't have a spare." Jessie sighed.

"You're kidding right? Who drives around without a spare tire?" Katie said incredulously. Jessie playfully hit her in the right arm.

"It's a rental, so technically, it wasn't my fault. And besides, I was not expecting the tire to deflate. I just rented it yesterday!" Jessie explained.

"So, what are you gonna do now?"

"I don't know, maybe wait for someone with a good heart to help me." Jessie said in a hinting tone. Katie smiled at her. There was just something so fascinating about Jessie that keeps her wanting to stare.

"Hmm... What do you want that someone with a good heart to do then?" Katie said, playing this game with Jessie.

"I'm thinking, maybe blow some air into the deflated tire, what do you think?" Jessie grinned. Katie stood pondering for a moment, crossing he arms.

"How about if, that someone with a good heart invites you to her house for a drink, call the rental service and let them pick up your car for repairs, and wait until they bring the car back to her address?" Katie smiled.

"Sounds great." Jessie said thoughtfully.

"Okay... Let's wait for that someone with a good heart then." Katie joked. Jessie's jaw dropped mockingly. She's enjoying playing around with Katie. Then she hit her hard in the left arm. "Aww!" Katie winced in pain. She's definitely not the only girl who can kick ass.

"Tease." Jessie chided her.

"No I'm not." Katie blushed.

"Yes you are." Jessie grinned.

"No I'm not."

"Okay, you're not." Jessie smiled, finally yielding into the blushing brunette... Katie smiled.

"Let's go."

"Are you serious or are you still playing with me?" Jessie narrowed her eyes on Katie, which Katie thought was too cute.

"Are you coming or not?" Katie said smoothly as she walked back to her car.

"I'm coming!" Jessie then locked the doors of her car and ran after Katie.

Back at the mini van, Dominique was nodding her head.

"She IS Lucy's sister." Janet made a sudden 180. Katie Singer just redeemed herself.

"Oh, yeah, definitely." Dominique agreed.

"Move it, they're leaving." Max said, and Dominique steered the mini van on the move again.

It took them only three minutes to reach Katie's lakehouse. Jessie felt almost a bit nervous when she stepped into the front porch. If it was because she was able to infiltrate the enemy lines after only two days in Barcelona, or some other reason, she couldn't tell at the moment.

"Make yourself comfortable." Katie smiled at Jessie as they entered the lavishly designed living room of Katie's lakehouse.

"Okay."

"I'll go find the directory. Let's just hope that I'd find it." Katie winked at Jessie. She's starting to feel at ease around the other girl, thank God. Jessie smiled back. Katie had disappeared in a narrow hallway when Jessie took a seat on the very comfy peach couch. As her eyes wandered around the house looking for possible clues, or something that she could use to find Lucy Diamond, her eyes stopped on the celphone Katie had left on her coffee table.

'_Not so smart now, are we?' _Jessie couldn't help her excitement. She didn't realize it was going to be this easy. She was about to pick up the celphone to check all the numbers Katie had stored in there, she heard Katie's footsteps coming back to the living room.

"Guess what, I found it." Katie chuckled at herself, then scanned for the number of the rental car service that Jessie had mentioned while they were in the car. Jessie sat agitated on the couch. She knew she has to relax, and knew she shouldn't be pushing her luck. Jessie was a little jumpy and jerked at the sudden ringing of her celphone. Katie noticed, and giggled at Jessie's funny expression. Jessie blushed again.

"Are you okay?" Katie was trying her best not to laugh.

"Me? Yeah, of course. Why do you ask?" Jessie tried to calm her frantically beating heart. Katie merely laughed. She didn't reach to answer the ringing phone.

"Aren't you going to answer that?" Jessie asked curiously.

"In a moment… It's just Tad. He knows I listen to the ring tone first before answering." Katie shrugged. Jessie then focused on the ringing of the celphone, wondering what's making Katie like the ring tone so much.

_From the first time you laid your lips on mine_

_It feels like the smile on my face will last 'til the end of time_

_But I'm not so sure if you're the one that I should pursue_

_My mind tells me no but my heart only says that it's you_

_And I think I'm falling_

_Maybe I'm falling for you_

_And I think I'm falling _

_Maybe I'm falling for you_

"Let me get this, okay? Excuse me." Katie reached for her celphone and answered the phone with a big goofy smile on her face that made Jessie frown.

'_Why is she so excited to talk with Tad?' _Jessie's frown was mixed with irritation. Katie was laughing while talking with the other guy on the phone. God knows how much she tried to stop herself from grabbing the phone from Katie's hand and smashed it into the wall. _'And what do I care?' _Jessie shook her head, realizing that she was being stupid. Tad and Katie are bestfriends. They talk with each other all the time, right?

"You looked really tensed." Katie's voice almost made Jessie jump off of her seat again. She didn't realize Katie had hung up.

'_What's wrong with you, Sammler? This isn't you! Now focus!' _Jessie shrugged off the uneasiness she was feeling and composed herself again.

"Interesting ring tone." Jessie said suavely, intending to divert the conversation into something else other than the tension she was feeling. _'What tension?' _Even Jessie couldn't answer her own question.

"Really, you think so? Tad thinks it sucks."

"So did you guys, ever… You know." Jessie tried not to act too interested.

"Huh?" Katie turned to face Jessie as she thought of what Jessie was trying to say.

"Did you ever date him?"

"What? US? No!" Katie started laughing. Jessie just watched her. "Why would you even think that?"

"You do have that song as his assigned ring tone." Jessie said.

"No big deal. I just happened to love that song so much, and he's the only person who calls me constantly. I guess it's just my pathetic excuse to hear my favorite song over and over again without being teased by my stupid bestfriend, know what I mean?" Katie grinned at Jessie.

"He doesn't look so bad." Jessie joked. Katie looked at her as if it she'd seen a headless corpse.

"Don't tell me you're interested in him." Katie narrowed her eyes on her. _'Please…'_

"No I'm not. I was just wondering why you didn't… You mean he didn't try to hit on you, ever?" Jessie was really in disbelief.

"Nope."

"He must be gay." Jessie assumed. Katie burst out laughing. Jessie smiled. "What?"

"I wish Tad heard that. He's gonna freak out." Katie was still laughing so hard.

"You know, if I was a guy, I'd probably hit on you." Jessie said before she could even realize she said it. She was surprised, after realizing that she actually voiced it out loud and not just thinking it. Katie smiled.

"I'd probably hit on you too." Katie joked. Jessie smiled. Katie continued. "Tad's great; he's funny, he's dependable, he's good-looking, but… I don't know. He's not for me and I'm not for him. It's as simple as that." Katie explained.

"Is it the bestfriend-thing, that bestfriends can never be lovers?"

"It's not that… Love is an emotional freefall, I think… That no matter what you do to control it, the feeling just grows. That the more you pull away, you feel emptier. And you'll never feel so complete again until you face that fact that you're in love and realize that it's the only thing that makes you happy." Katie stared in space, smiling. Jessie watched her.

In the mini van, the three DEBS watched and listened in curiosity…

"Wow, that's…" Janet couldn't find the right words.

"I can fall in love with her." Dominique said without thinking.

"Dominique, you don't know what love is." Max frowned.

"Hmm… Good point." Dominique said. Meanwhile, Jessie heard her squad's conversation through her communicator and was snapped back to earth.

Jessie forced herself to look somewhere else other than Katie. Katie smiled.

"Oh here, I found the number of the rental car service. I'll call them for you." Katie grabbed the cordless phone not so far away from her and dialed the number, and talked politely to the other person on the other line. After hanging up, she immediately informed Jessie of what transpired in her conversation.

"They'll be repairing your car in a few minutes and will be bringing it over here as soon as they can. And in the meantime, let me prepare dinner." Katie got up from her seat.

"Wait, can help?" Jessie said sincerely.

"Okay." Katie smiled, and they walked side by side to the kitchen.

It was almost midnight when the DEBS were able to go back to their base. Jessie got in first, followed by the three DEBS. Max, who was a bit furious by the realization of Jessie's plan on using her sex appeal to gain her trust, barged into Jessie's room without knocking. Jessie turned around, surprised, and was suddenly angry upon seeing Max standing in her doorway.

"Brewer, you are out of line." Jessie growled at Max, who was already walking towards her direction.

"What the fuck, Sammler, do you even know what you're doing?" Max retorted. She's not gonna let Jessie win this argument. Not this one.

"Are you questioning my decisions?" Jessie was aware of what Max was complaining about.

"You're seducing a straight girl." Max said.

"That's the fun part." Jessie grinned. Max scowled at her captain.

"You're never gonna win this game, Sammler. Never." Max said in a warning tone. Jessie laughed with so much sarcasm.

"Can't you see? I'm winning already. You don't believe Katie Singer's gonna give in, do you? But I can see you're afraid that she will." Jessie walked closer to Max's direction, holding her gaze.

"If you're gonna turn this into another Lucy and Amy thing, then why don't you just tell us now so we can disperse with all the drama?"

"Another Lucy and Amy thing? I'm not as stupid as YOUR perfect score, Brewer."

"I know, 'coz you are the Lucy Diamond in this picture." Max didn't realize how much that would touch a nerve, when Jessie's face suddenly turned so red. She was now looking fiercely at Max, trying to control her temper from exploding.

"Such travesty will never be tolerated, EVER again… I am going to catch Lucy Diamond and your precious little perfect score… I'll be a hero… And don't worry, I wouldn't mind sharing the spotlight with you, since we're all here for the same purpose…" Jessie said, challenging Max. She knew Max was forced to go to this mission, it was partly her fault. But Max, Dominique, and Janet are still government agents. So, they are gonna have to do their jobs, like it or not.

"Soldier, dismissed." Jessie tried to steady her breath. Max just compared her to Lucy Diamond, and she wasn't very thrilled…


	6. A Sort of Fairytale

**CHAPTER 6A SORT OF FAIRYTALE**

"Are you on medication?" Lucy's voice broke the silence between her and her sister as they sat adjacent to each other at the couch that Saturday morning, in Amy and Lucy's hideout home in the wilderness. Katie looked up at the former criminal, looking puzzled.

"Excuse me?" Katie unconsciously contracted her eyebrows.

"You've been smiling like an idiot since you arrived here… And to tell you the truth, it's kind'a creepy." Lucy said, at the same time nodding her head. Katie gave her a mock scowl and chuckled. She just feels really happy… Or excited… Or whatever you want to call it.

"Hey, I didn't complain when I saw you and your girlfriend naked. It's creepier, you know." Katie joked. Lucy slightly blushed. Ah, her sister just knows how to embarrass her. So much for being one of the most feared criminals.

"Okay, change of subject… Do you want to stay for lunch?"

"Is that your polite way of saying you want me to cook your lunch?" Katie grinned. Lucy stared in mock disbelief. Her sister knows her all too well. What she said was partly true. Lucy's not much of a cook, just like Amy. And they didn't really have the luxury of going out to restaurants for meals. It would be so dangerous for them. And she missed Katie's cooking anyway. She's one hell of a cook.

"Well, since you noticed, yeah." Lucy chuckled.

"Sure, Lucy, no problem."

Meanwhile, at downtown… Janet was sitting on the couch in front of a fitting room of the fifth clothes store she and Jessie had been in. She was drumming her fingers impatiently on couch. Her captain had decided to go on a shopping spree unscheduled. She would have stayed at their base with her other friends, but Jessie took her along. It's not like she can complain. She's still afraid of being stripped off of her stripes.

"Can you hurry? I'm hungry." Janet complained for the tenth time that morning. Everytime Jessie tries on something, she's taking forever, and Janet hasn't had breakfast. Before she heard Jessie's answer, the growling in her stomach answered her first. Just then, Jessie came out of the fitting room, wearing a new pair of jeans and a pink blouse.

"So, what do you think?" Jessie asked, smiling. Janet rolled her eyes. Jessie had been trying to reach the look of laid-back and fun… Beginning to feel nauseous, Janet just nodded, so Jessie would stop and move on to her next clothes. _Oh God no… _Noticing Janet's mood, which Jessie barely does, Jessie went back to the fitting room and changed back to her own clothes. It didn't take her long, which surprised Janet. Then, Jessie paid for her clothes and pulled her subordinate to the nearest coffee shop.

After ordering bagels and coffee, Janet and Jessie occupied the farthest table, and started eating their breakfast. At first, they ate in silence, until Janet couldn't keep her mouth shut anymore.

"Let me get this straight… You're excited to go on a date with Katie Singer, who happens to be straight." Janet stated. Jessie almost choked on her coffee and stared at Janet, who is obviously waiting for her comment. She pondered a bit, thinking of the right thing to say. 'Coz Janet didn't ask anything. She just voiced out what she had been thinking since their wild shopping spree that morning.

_I did spend more than I should… _Jessie thought.

"I'm not excited." Jessie said nonchalantly. Janet rolled her eyes.

"Yeah right." Janet scoffed. Jessie frowned.

"You know, I don't need to justify anything." Jessie bit a piece of her bagel. Janet studied her face for a while, before speaking again.

"She's obviously fond of you." Janet said. Jessie looked up at her.

_Fond? I'm not sure if I want her to be fond of me… I don't want Katie to be just fond of me… _Jessie unconsciously thought.

"Oh…" It was Jessie's short answer. She could feel Janet's eyes fixed on her. As to why the other DEB was looking at her like that as if examining her, she has no idea. And no point to get all defensive.

"But she's probably gonna hate you eventually." Janet added. Jessie scowled at her. She didn't need to hear that from anyone. Janet shrugged. "What? It's true. She'll hate you."

"I don't care. Janet, what are you driving at?" Jessie was starting to get irritated.

"Do you really want to do this? I mean, seducing someone you shouldn't even be seducing… I know it might work. Amy did fall in love with a girl, right? But… Do you really want to hurt Katie? She has nothing to do with this." Janet said in concern. Okay, she has no real concerns for Katie Singer right now, all of this is just her way of trying to save Amy and Lucy.

"Janet, whatever it is you're trying to do, you're wasting your breath." Jessie scowled at her. Janet didn't flinch though. Jessie doesn't look so tough and fierce now as she always try to be. Something happened to her. She did soften a bit, to Janet's liking.

Jessie did use to be so fierce and harsh and rude, but all she does know was scowl and frown and argue, but not as much as she does before.

"Do you really want to do this?" Janet repeated her question. Jessie met her gaze. They held each other's eyes for a moment before Jessie gave her answer.

"I'll do anything to catch Lucy Diamond." Jessie, after saying that, never said a word again. Both of them were lost in their own thoughts.

Back at the base, Max and Dominique were taking advantage of the time they have to snoop around Jessie's files. As a team, they haven't found any clue as to Lucy and Amy's whereabouts, for Katie was good at being discreet. But they need to make sure that Jessie's not hiding any important information from them. Well, with Jessie's determination to catch the elusive criminal, they had to make sure.

Max smoothly unlocked the door to Jessie's bedroom with a small hunting knife in her right hand. It was a trick she had learned on her first year at the Academy. When you're doing all these exciting spy stuff, it's one of the things you should be good at. At the sound of a click, Max and Dominique exchanged smiles. Turning the doorknob clockwise, Max opened the door. She entered Jessie's room, followed by Dominique.

"There it is." Max said, after looking around, and found what they were looking for in a few seconds. Jessie's laptop was rested on top of her bed. Max sat on the bed. After she was sure that it was plugged, she turned it on. The DEBS logo zooms into the screen, and requests for a password. Max smiled. She made sure that Janet, whose expertise includes stealing and computer hacking, had already cleared the obstacles for them. Well, Janet did, and she gave them the passwords this morning, before being forced by Jessie to this wild shopping spree.

Max punched the password in, and in a second, they were able to enter Jessie's secret files. Max and Dominique immediately spotted the icon of Mission: Barcelona Undercover, and clicked it. Lots of other emblems came into the screen, surveillance icon caught Max's attention. She clicked it, and her jaw drops.

There wasn't much information inside it. Just surveillance photos of Katie Singer from the very first day they set out for the mission. Max and Dominique really has no idea how to react.

"Okay… Are we supposed to get anything from this?" Max frowned. _Isn't one surveillance photo enough? _

"There's NOTHING in there." Dominique reached out and started checking out the other icons of the mission file. They crossed into information that they already know. There's nothing new to see. Nothing much that would lead them to Lucy and Amy, to their relief, but to their surprise.

"So Sammler's not hiding anything from us." Max stated the obvious. Dominique's right eyebrow arched.

"Except that." Dominique nodded at the screen, where Katie's surveillance photos appeared again.

"This is… Weird." Max said, for the lack of the appropriate term.

"Yes… Weird." Dominique frowned. The two remained staring at the screen before deciding to turn the laptop off again before Jessie returns and catches them.

At Lucy and Amy's hideout home, or what Lucy prefers to call her lair, to Amy's displeasure. She did drop out of the DEBS, but the term 'lair' still isn't for her. Katie, after eating lunch with her sister and Amy, had no choice but to clean the dishes, since Lucy was too lazy to do anything. She had always been lazy, to Katie's annoyance. But she couldn't really force her to do anything. Good thing Amy volunteered to help her. They still didn't have a dishwasher, so they had to wash it manually. Amy did the drying.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to be a nuisance to you." Amy said apologetically.

"Oh, that's exactly Lucy's intention, believe me." Katie joked. Amy chuckled. Katie handed the last plate she had washed to Amy. Amy reached for it and started drying it.

"Really, we're sorry… I know how hard this is for you, sneaking out at night, making sure no one is following you, buying tons of groceries for us… The last thing we want is to disrupt anyone's life." Amy put the plate down, and focused her attention to Katie. Katie smiled.

"If this is what it is, then you can disrupt my life anytime you please." Katie chuckled. She then looked sincerely at Amy. "You know, I've never had a family for a really long time, Amy… I don't know how to thank you, 'coz you brought my sister back."

"Oh please, don't make me cry." Amy smiled.

"If there's someone who should be crying, that would be me. And the tears would definitely be tears of joy…" Katie paused. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"You were a DEB… And as I heard, you're one of the best, or should I say, YOU are the best… So, why did you give everything up? Why did you risk your life and stained your name, and ran away with my sister? I mean, it may sound romantic, but it's absolutely irrational." Katie was looking expectantly at Amy. Amy leaned against the railing of the sink, smiling as she thought about the first time she saw Lucy's surveillance photos.

"I suppose you already know the answer… But if you still want to know why, I guess the perfect reason is the fact that I love her." Amy smiled. "I love your sister." Katie stared at Amy's eyes. She is obviously telling the truth. How can she not be? You can see that love dancing in Amy's eyes.

"Can I ask you another question?"

"Sure."

"WHY do you love her? She was supposed to be your enemy…"

"Katie, you can't choose who you fall in love with." Amy reasoned. "You just fall."

"How would you know that its love and you're not just being delusional?" Katie looked curiously at Amy. Amy was amused at Katie's blow by blow questions, but answered her anyway.

"When you can't resist it..." Amy answered with conviction.

"In that case, then I guess I really love you, 'coz I couldn't resist you. Not now, not ever." Lucy showed up from behind the kitchen's door, grinning. Katie and Amy jumped at the sound of Lucy's voice, which caught them by surprise.

"Shit, Lucy, how long have you been there?" Katie growled at her sister.

"A while." Lucy answered without looking at Katie. She walked towards her girlfriend's direction and stopped in front of Amy, smiling seductively. Katie rolled her eyes.

"You've been eavesdropping." Amy narrowed her eyes on Lucy. Lucy, meanwhile, plastered an innocent look on her face, which Amy adored so much.

"Can't help it… So you love me, huh?" Lucy wrapped her arms around Amy's waist. Katie stood there as if she had disappeared from the face of the earth.

"You know that already." Amy smiled. Lucy began trailing kissed on Amy's neck. Amy tried to push her away. "Katie's still here, Lucy." Amy was still trying to push her away.

"Don't worry, she's leaving." Lucy grinned while still kissing Amy's neck. Katie rolled her eyes again.

"I definitely am. Before you guys do whatever Lucy's planning to do." Katie made steps to the door, but turned around before reaching it, interrupting Lucy from speaking, who was about to say something naughty.

"And don't even think about it. I know exactly what you're planning to say." Katie scowled at Lucy which got Amy laughing. Lucy displayed another mock innocent look on her face. "I'm leaving now."

"Wait, don't you want to stay for dinner?" Lucy asked.

"I've had enough memories of you guys making out, thank you." Katie shook her head, feigning disgust. "I'm meeting someone." She smiled. Lucy narrowed her eyes at Katie.

"Someone who?"

"None of your business. Bye Amy. See you next week." Katie waved at Amy and left the house. After hearing Katie's convertible speed away, Lucy turned her head back to Amy, smiling evilly.

"Now, where were we?" Lucy wiggled her eyebrows. Amy shakes her head in amusement.

Hours had passed. Jessie had returned to their base, and hadn't left her room since arriving. Max and Dominique tried to act innocent at Jessie's arrival. They made sure nothing else was touched while snooping around inside Jessie's room. They left the laptop at the exact same position where they first found it. The briefing would start at any moment now.

"Okay troop, gather around." Jessie commanded as she walked out of her bedroom. She wore a simple pair of jeans and blouse, but there was something about her that makes her look so stunningly beautiful. Max's right eyebrow arched, while Janet's jaw dropped. Dominique headed to the couch and slumped on it, followed by her friends. Jessie was the last to sit. She chose the chair opposite the three.

"As usual, you're back up. I'll keep the camera on, so you'll hear and see everything that will transpire between me and the subject tonight. I do hope we could get some important information from her, since we're taking longer than I would have liked. If there's any visual of Diamond or Bradshaw in the vicinity, alert me… And don't even think otherwise, Brewer. I'll know when you're lying." Jessie warned Max in advance before Max could even say anything.

"We'll take the van again?" Dominique said, almost complaining. She hates closed spaces.

"Unless you want to walk around carrying all the surveillance equipments without being too obvious." Jessie turned to look at Dominique. Dominique shrugged in defeat.

"So, what you really want us to do is to stay close, and watch you flirt?" Max looked at Jessie in distaste. Jessie smiled sarcastically.

"You should… You might actually learn a thing or two." Jessie chuckled. "Unit dispatched. Let's go." Jessie pranced out of the house/base.

"What kind of drugs did she take?" Dominique frowned.

"I heard that!" Jessie yelled good-naturedly from the outside. It's actually the good-natured part that surprised the DEBS, not the yelling. The three exchanged looks, before heading to their mini van.

At the lakehouse… Katie had just finished getting dressed when her phone rings. She hurriedly picked up the phone from the living room.

"_Am I attractive?" _Said the voice on the other line.

"Tad?" Katie immediately recognize her bestfriend's voice. "Tell me you didn't call me jus tto ask me that." Katie frowned.

"_Actually, I was going to ask you if I'd look better with braces." _Tad asked again. He was currently standing in front of his bathroom mirror at Hotel Rembrandt, checking out his teeth.

"Are you serious?" Katie was apparently irritated.

"_What? Tom Cruise made it fashionable when he wore it---"_

"Tad, his teeth were about to fall off after his accident that's why he wore those braces. If you want the braces so bad, I'll kick you in the face tomorrow. Can we hang up now?" Katie said, looking at her wrist watch.

"_But I feel bored and I got no one to talk to." _He whined.

"Pay someone." Katie suggested.

"_I have an idea. It's weekend, and we won't have classes in three days. Find your passport. Let's go to Hawaii." _Tad grinned at the thought of hot beach babes under the sun.

"I don't want to go anywhere." Katie was becoming impatient at Tad's crazy ideas.

"_I'll pay for everything. Come on Katie, you can swim by the waves." _Tad's grin grew wider. Katie could never resist the water. He was already anticipating his bestfriend's affirmative answer, but only heard a sigh. He frowned. _"Did you just sigh?" _Tad knew perfectly what her sigh meant.

"Tad…"

"_That's a bad sign… You sighed?" _

"I am not going anywhere… I'm sort of… I'm meeting someone today." Katie said slowly. Tad paused for a moment.

"_Do I know him?" _Tad assumed it was probably another of Katie's one time dates. He kind'a had gotten used to it. Katie didn't know what to say. Should she correct him? She decided to stay quiet. _"Look, I know you're excited with the idea of finding someone, but, if you already knew he's not worth it, then why waste your time? Why pass up HAWAII?" _Tad asked. Katie smiled.

"I don't know… I'm not sure… But I need to find out." Katie smiled giddily. Tad paused on the other line.

"_So… I can't come over tonight?" _

"Nope… Sorry."

"_That's fine… Anything for your happiness, Katherine." _

"Thanks Thaddeus." Katie chuckled. They hung up. Just then, she heard the knocks on her door. Katie's heart almost leapt out of her chest.

_Relax Katie, it's just Jessie… Breathe… _Katie tried to focus for a while, and relaxed her frantic breathing. These meetings with Jessie are definitely one of the easiest ways to develop a heart disease that might actually lead to a serious heart attack. After gaining her composure in a few seconds, she went to open the door.

"Hi." Jessie smiled at her as she opened the door.

"Hey… You're early."

"Really? My watch says I'm five minutes late." Jessie lifted her right hand, showing her watch. Katie chuckled.

"Come in." She let Jessie pass by, then when Jessie was in, she closed the door.

"I really love your place." Jessie looked around. It was painted red, which was her favorite color.

"Thanks. It's small, but I think it's cool. And besides, it's the lake that attracted me to the place." Katie smiled.

"So, where are you taking me?"

"You'll see." Katie grinned, and unconsciously took Jessie's right hand into her own, and Jessie stares at their tangled hands. Katie then pulled her out of the house. Seconds later, Katie and Jessie were standing by the dock, where a small boat was tied to it.

At the mini van…

"Where are they going?" Max asked. They could see Katie's face on the screen, as the small camera was attached to the front of Jessie's blouse.

"They seem to be going away." Dominique stared at the monitor.

"Yeah, which isn't the street." Max frowned. She grabbed the binoculars from her right and crawled to the front seat. She lifted it to her eyes and focused it to the direction of the dock.

"They're riding a boat." Max informed the squad.

"Jessie, are you there? Over." Janet called as she heard the static on her communicator. "She's going out of range." She informed the other two.

"What are we supposed to do?" Dominique asked.

"Do we have to do anything?" Janet asked, which earned her a growl from both Dominique and Max.

"This isn't the time to act stupid, Janet. Katie might take her to Lucy, and we have to know." Max was already formulating the different possibilities as to where Katie might be taking Jessie. If she takes their captain to Lucy, then this will be all over.

"I don't think Katie trusts her that much to---"

"And we have to make sure, don't we?" Max stared at Janet.

"So… How do we follow? We can't exactly row the van into the water." Dominique said sarcastically. She was getting restless, so she puffed another cigarette.

"Janet, can you find out if we can access the lake if we go straight ahead of this road?" Max turned to Janet. Janet nodded.

"Give me a minute." Janet started punching computer keys, and in less than thirty seconds, she managed to find a map. "The lake pretty much goes straight ahead, in parallel with the road. We're gonna have to walk a few, but it's definitely accessible."

"That's okay, we need the work out anyway. Let's go guys." Max commanded, and Dominique took the wheel.

After reaching a spot in the middle of the lake, a little far away from the lakehouse, Katie killed the motor of the boat, and sat on the other end. Jessie was already sitting on the rear end, watching Katie. After exchanging smiles, Jessie finally turned her head away from the brunette and looked around.

She was amazed at the breathtaking sight.

"Wow…" Jessie jaw dropped in awe, as she stared at the healthy grow of trees in the riverbank, the stillness of water, and the very fresh air. "Wow…" Jessie repeated.

"Amazing, huh?" Katie smiled. Jessie gave her a brief look and continued looking around.

"Yeah… There's nothing like this in LA." Jessie smiled.

"So, you're from LA?" Katie seemed happy upon finally learning something from the interesting blonde. There are lots of questions that she wants to ask her but couldn't find the guts.

"Yeah… Where are you from?" Jessie didn't need to ask. She knows a lot about Katie now, but of course she's not about to tell her subject that. But sitting here now, it doesn't feel like she's on a mission… It feels like she's on vacation.

"New York City."

"Why did you leave?" Jessie stared at Katie, while Katie stared down at the water. Katie took long before answering, which got Jessie concerned for a while.

"Things happened, and New York doesn't seem to be like the place for me anymore… I would have gone to NYU, or Princeton which isn't so far, it's just… I can't stay there. I just can't." Katie sighed. So that's something Jessie hasn't read from their intelligence report on Katie Singer.

"Why? Are you running from a psychotic ex-boyfriend?" Jessie joked. Katie looked at her in amusement.

"No… Katie chuckled. "No guy could ever make me move out of my city, much more of my country… I have more personal reasons."

"Which you couldn't tell me." Jessie assumed. Katie looked back at her.

"I'm sorry, I'm not really up to talking about that life that I left in New York… That's why I'm here, you know, in the middle of my very own paradise… I couldn't really ask for anything more." Katie looked meaningfully at Jessie, which got Jessie blushing for a bit there. Jessie smiled.

"So, exactly how many guys have you brought here?" Jessie narrowed her eyes playfully at Katie. Katie began laughing.

"Oh, I lost count… Zero?" Katie replied.

"You're lying." Jessie said incredulously.

"Well, Tad was with me a few times, but I didn't exactly bring him with me. He forced himself on my boat that we almost flipped over. So, that doesn't count." Katie chuckled.

"You know, Tad seems like a funny guy." Jessie grinned. Katie felt a bit uneasy at the turn of conversation to Tad.

"Yeah, funny enough I want to kill him sometimes." Katie joked, but she could feel her ears turning red at the moment. "He thinks you're hot." Katie said, avoiding Jessie's eyes. She didn't want to see Jessie's reaction. She was afraid to see the blonde's reaction. But Jessie only found it funnier, so she laughed.

"What's so funny?" Katie looked up at Jessie.

"Well, tell him thanks, but he's not really my type."

"Really?" Katie said too cheery. Clearing her throat, she tried to tone the excitement down. "I mean, he's not really your type?"

"Nope." Jessie shakes her head smiling.

"So, are you dating someone?" Katie asked without looking at Jessie. She feels so silly and stupid right now, just asking Jessie these questions.

"Is this a date?" Jessie joked. Very smooth for Jessie, she just turned the color of Katie's face into bright red. Jessie chuckled. "No, I'm not dating anyone… How about you?" Jessie looked at Katie with too much interest.

"I've decided to swear off dating for a while, you know… Bad luck with men, I think… I didn't realize that looking for the right person is like looking for a blue diamond, if such diamond even exists." Katie smiled. But the smile didn't hide the longing that she's feeling. Sure she said she isn't desperate. But it doesn't hurt to have someone by your side by the end of the day, making sure that you're feeling alright.

Jessie wasn't sure if it was sympathy that she felt while looking at Katie's somewhat heartrending expression on her face. But she wanted to reach out and give her the most comforting hug in the world. Though, she refrained from doing so.

"I know what you mean."

"You do? 'Coz Tad thinks I'm just being nuts." Katie chuckled. Jessie looks seriously at her.

"Looking for the right person is a wild goose chase, but, why stop just because some people think it's crazy? Why settle for something good when you can have the best? Besides, it's only once in your life that you get to find someone who can make your heart---

"Race?" Katie said knowingly and smiled. Jessie smiled back.

"Yeah..." So they have the same train of thought. Jessie was impressed.

"Just more reason for Tad to think that I'm delusional." Katie chuckled again, and Jessie rolled her eyes.

_This girl has to stop worrying about what Tad thinks! _Jessie thought.

"Well, you can tell Tad to just go to hell." Jessie joked then laughed. Katie laughed with her. She's a bit irritated upon learning how unsupportive Tad is. Katie is his bestfriend afterall but he doesn't do anything but to bring the spirits of the girl down. Jessie and Katie remained sitting at both ends of the boat, looking and smiling at each other for a few seconds in silence before the DEB spoke again.

"There's nothing wrong about believing in something." Jessie said. Katie paused, just absorbing Jessie's words for a while.

"Thanks." Katie said in utmost sincerity.

"For what?" Jessie asked in confusion.

"For lifting my spirit." Katie smiled.

"You're welcome." Jessie smiled and turned her face away from Katie. They had been holding each other's eyes for a quite a while now, and she was starting to blush. Then, an idea clicking in her head, she grins.

"So, star swimmer, show me what you got." Jessie motions to the water. Katie realizes what Jessie was trying to imply, and her eyes widens.

"Are you kidding?" Katie said in disbelief.

"I don't see you laughing." Jessie said coyly.

_Gosh, she's so cute when she does that… _Katie smiled again, almost dreamily.

"Come on." Jessie said while getting up from her seat to stand. The boat swayed a little.

"Jessie, sit down." Katie chastised her. Jessie offered her right hand to Katie, but Katie just looked at it.

"Afraid of the water, Singer?" Jessie grinned, goading Katie.

"I know what you're doing Jessie, but it's not gonna work." Katie grinned, crossing her arms.

"Really?" Jessie narrowed her eyes playfully at Katie.

"Really… And sit down, you could fall." Katie motioned to Jessie's former seat. Instead of sitting down again, Jessie looked playfully at the water, and without further ado, jumped into the water without warning. Katie's jaw dropped. She immediately got up of her own seat and watched the part of the water where Jessie had jumped.

"Oh shit! Jessie, what the hell were you thinking?!" Katie tried to balance herself as the boat was swaying. She looked around worriedly, looking for any sign of Jessie. In a few seconds, Jessie's head popped up.

"Bet you didn't see that coming." Jessie's rather teasing voice reached Katie's ears, giving her some relief. She sighed upon seeing Jessie's face.

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Katie said, holding her chest for emphasis.

"Nope… I was planning to do something some other things with your heart. I hope you don't mind." Jessie grinned again. Katie was speechless for a while.

_How am I supposed to react to that? _Katie shakes her head. She realized she had been quiet for too long, so she tried to think of something with sense to say.

"It's cold down there. Seriously, get back here." Katie offered her hand, and Jessie ignored it this time. Then, an almost evil smile crept in Jessie's face.

"Cold?" Jessie was incredulous. "I thought it was pretty hot." Jessie said, eyeing Katie from head to foot that made the brunette blush to death. And of course, evil Jessie wasn't referring to the water. The lake was, in fact, freezing cold. Jessie then began taking her blouse off. Katie's eyes widens upon seeing the other girl just do that.

"What are you doing?" Katie narrowed her eyes on Jessie.

"What does it look like?" Jessie said oh-so-smoothly.

"Are you out of your mind? You could get hypothermia." Katie said in disbelief. Jessie is driving her crazy.

"Am I scaring you?" Jessie said, almost coaxing Katie. Katie couldn't do anything or think of anything smart to say, as she saw Jessie lift her blouse up in her head, successfully taking it off. She threw it to Katie's direction. Katie grew stiff to where she stood, when both her hands caught Jessie's blouse, that Jessie purposely threw her way.

The next few minutes went kind of a blur, for Katie anyway. It happened so fast, and the next thing Katie knew, she was holding every garment that Jessie was wearing before jumping down to that water. Yup, Jessie was down in that water, without anything on. Katie almost fainted.

"I don't want you to get sick." Katie knew she sounded silly, but can you blame her? She was trying to stay calm despite her heart's frantic beating. It had been beating like hell since Jessie had arrived at the lakehouse. Now, it became even worse.

"I'm not a kid. Come down here." Jessie grinned at Katie when Katie rolled her eyes. Jessie wearing nothing on wasn't helping her that much in trying to persuade Katie to join her. Katie stood, clutching Jessie's clothes, as if she's holding on to dear life. Seeing that Katie wasn't about to jump into the water with her, it was time to resort to plan B.

Jessie went underwater, with Katie merely watching her. Katie waited, but Jessie was staying underwater far too longer than she expected her too. Thanks to Jessie's underwater training which was part of the DEBS Academy curriculum, and which Katie didn't know. She was getting nervous.

Starting to become too scared that something might have happened to Jessie, Katie jumped into the water and dived underwater in search of the missing blonde. After almost a minute of desperate search, Katie went up to get some air, and found Jessie threading on the other side of the boat, watching her in amusement.

"Did you search long?" Katie turned at the sound of Jessie's voice. She lets out a sigh of relief whilst disbelief.

"You're fine? How could you stay underwater for so long?" Katie tried to catch her breath.

"So, star swimmer isn't so afraid of the water afterall." Jessie grinned.

"I can't believe I fell for that trick." Katie shakes her head. "And I'm not a star swimmer." Katie said firmly.

"Yeah right. That's why those people at your school paper are just wasting their ink writing lies." Jessie held on to the side of the boat, smiling at Katie as she tilted her head. Katie held on to the other side of the boat, opposite Jessie.

"You've been reading my school paper?" Katie narrowed her eyes on Jessie. She was a bit flattered upon learning that Jessie had been spending time trying to get to know her, but she doesn't really want to go on assuming that she was the reason why Jessie had been reading their school paper. She could be researching something else, right?

"I 'accidentally' stumbled upon the website." Jessie smiled, feigning innocence. This is where the subterfuge skill comes in handy.

"So… You really are stalking me." Katie said in mock disbelief. Jessie then swam underwater and Katie has no idea where she was, until she felt warm breath at the back of her neck. Katie immediately turned around and found Jessie threading just a few inches away, in front of her. She had to hold her breath, and calm herself at the same time.

_How can you calm yourself when you can't even breathe? _Katie cleared her throat too loud for Jessie to hear, which made Jessie smile in satisfaction.

"I told you it was cold in here." Katie said, for lack of topic to start. You can't really blame her 'coz her brain is going to an overdrive right now.

"And yet you jumped into the water." Jessie was moving painfully closer, making Katie recoil, her back hitting the side of the boat.

"I thought you were drowning. And you did say it was hot." Katie was still holding her breath. She could swear her face is starting to turn red for lack of oxygen. Few seconds more of this, she'd probably fall unconscious…

But that would be okay 'coz she'd probably fall into Jessie's arms…

_Did I just think that? _Katie shakes her head to get rid of the crazy ideas. She'd been having a lot of that lately.

"I was referring to something else…" Jessie said suggestively, at the same time having her own breathing problems. She never thought being this close to Katie would feel this intense.

Jessie moved even closer. This time, Katie didn't have much space to move back to. She could feel the boat swaying in her back. The only way to move away would be pushing Jessie, or swim underwater which would be too rude, or, just wake up and realize that this was only a freakin' dream…

Katie could now feel Jessie's warm breath in her face. She made a sudden intake of breath, when finally, Jessie's body made contact with her own. She could feel the other girl's nakedness in the water, and it wasn't making things any easier for her.

"Jessie---" But before Katie could continue, Jessie's lips came crashing with hers. It was gentle, yet powerful and sensual. Katie never felt that way with a kiss before. It was confusing, yet amazing. Kissing Jessie was softer, better, like arriving in heaven and an angel was giving her a nice, warm welcome.

Pulling away was the last thing Katie wanted to do. The moment of shock paralyzed her for a while but it wasn't very long when she responded to Jessie's intruding lips. She groaned when Jessie pulled away, which made Katie blush a little upon seeing Jessie smiling at her.

"So I'm a liar…" Jessie chuckled. She could feel the coldness of the water now.

"Huh?" That was the best word that Katie could think of right now. She was still too dazed to give a smart response.

"I'm in desperate need of dry clothes." Jessie said bashfully.

"Right… Yeah, let's go back to the lakehouse." Katie was slightly trembling. She momentarily forgot how cold the water was when Jessie made that bold move of kissing her.

"Okay." Jessie smiled, looking pleased, and moved away from Katie to pull herself out of the water to the boat. Seeing a glimpse of Jessie's body, Katie made a sudden turn to the other direction, almost snapping her neck broken. Seeing Jessie actually naked and out of the water is too much to add to the insane thoughts that are swirling in her head at that very moment.

"I could go to hell for this…" Katie made a strong intake of breath again, not realizing she had actually said it out loud enough for Jessie to hear. Jessie had just finished putting her underwear back on, and was currently jumping into her pants.

"What?" Jessie chuckled in amusement. She was looking down at Katie, who was still in the water and had her back turned.

"Oh, nothing." Katie tried to say nonchalantly but wasn't doing very well at acting cool but the squeaking wasn't helping.

_Just committing one of the seven deadly sins right now, nothing to worry about… _Katie isn't very religious. But she did see one of the last episodes of America's Next Top Model Cycle 4 where the aspiring models were tasked to pose the seven deadly sins, of which the most familiar one was 'lust'.

"You can turn around now." Jessie smiled. Katie took a deep breath first, before actually turning around. Her breathing went back to normal when she found Jessie back in her clothes. Then, Jessie helped her get back into the boat. Taking Jessie's hand sent waves of incredible feeling throughout Katie's body, all the way to her heart…

From a distance, Max, Dominique, and Janet were panting after arriving at the riverbank. They could see the figure of two people on the boat not so far away from them. Dominique lifted the binoculars on her eyes.

"It's them." Dominique informed the girls.

"Good… Are you getting anything from Jessie?" Max hoped that Jessie was back on range. They couldn't see the feedback from Jessie's camera since the monitor was back in the van, but they wore each of their communicators so they could hear Jessie. She couldn't hear anything from her own communicator, and she was damn tired.

"They're leaving." Dominique frowned. Max suddenly felt impatient and irritated, so she snatched the binoculars from Dominique.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Max lifted the same binocular to her own eyes. Getting a clear view, in indeed looked like 'royal pain' and her subject are going back to the lakehouse. "This is total bullshit." Max snarled, immediately turning around and walking faster back to where they have come from. So she's being a pain in the ass now. Blame it on Janet. She assured them that it wouldn't be a long walk from the road to the riverbank. But they had walked half the distance already before they finally realized that they should have waited at the lakehouse.

"Where are we going?" Janet asked cautiously, a bit afraid that Max might lash out on her.

"Back to the lakehouse, where else? We're not letting Sammler work on this alone." Max growled. Dominique and Janet followed her.

Katie and Jessie had been long back to the lakehouse, and the brunette had let the other use her bathroom first. Katie was waiting, sitting on the bed, her eyes focused on nothing in particular, but her mind was definitely concentrated on one thing: that kiss back at the lake. It was so new to her, something she never even considered before. But it was so amazing, and she couldn't get it off of her head for a second ever since it happened. She tried to deny it, but couldn't help the fact that she wouldn't mind if it happens again. Hell, she needs that kiss again!

She needs to be that close to Jessie againe…

"Penny for your thoughts?" Jessie's sweet voice broke through Katie's reverie, as the other girl came out of the bathroom in her clothes, drying her hair with her towel.

"Did the clothes fit you?"

"The pants are pretty long, but it's fine." Jessie chuckled. Katie's pants were really long. She's so tall, and sexy and… _Did I just think that? _Jessie shakes her head, and concentrated on drying her hair. The shirt fit her well.

"I love your towels… They smell really good. What do you do to make them smell this good?" Jessie inquired. She remembered the same smell of the towel that Katie had given her back at the clubhouse.

"Fabric softener? I really don't know… Tad's maid does my laundry everyday, so…" Katie said almost embarrassedly. Jessie paused for a moment, the expression on her face turning suddenly solemn.

"His maid does your laundry?" Jessie tried not to frown.

"Yeah…" Katie noticed the displeasure in Jessie's voice. But what's wrong about a maid doing your laundry?

"He does a lot of things for you…" Jessie tried not to let the resentment seep through her voice. She isn't sure what she has against Tad. Well, he did almost kill her with his car, but he didn't mean it. But somehow, her resentment towards him grows everytime Katie mentions his name. Katie looked at her, trying to dissect her words…

"Oh… OH! Jessie, we really are just friends. I thought I've already cleared that. Tad and I grew up together in New York, so, we kind'a had gotten used to helping each other. I don't know how to do laundry and I don't want to hire a maid considering how small my house is and the fact that I didn't really need one. I only needed someone who would do my laundry, so, his maid does it for me, and I pay her for it… Tad isn't doing this as a favor… I mean…"

_WHY AM I DEFENDING MYSELF AGAIN? _Katie couldn't stop herself. She was suddenly in a defensive mode.

Jessie just watched her in silence for seconds, while Katie babbled like an idiot. Then she made a few steps towards Katie, a smile slowly showing in her face. She stops in front of the brunette, where they could almost feel each other's breaths. Katie was starting to get comfortable with Jessie's breath on her…

"About what happened, back at the lake…" Jessie trailed off, purposely keeping Katie in suspense.

Katie didn't know what to say. She was a bit scared, that Jessie might tell her it meant nothing. It shouldn't mean anything, right? She's straight, right? So why was she hoping otherwise? That it wasn't just for fun, that it wasn't just a game? Unknown to her, Jessie could almost read her face. And the blonde continued.

"I wasn't sorry…" Jessie whispered.

"What?"

"I'm sorry that I'm not sorry." Jessie chuckled. Then she smiled, and looked sincerely at Katie. Katie didn't say anything. She just stood agape at the blonde.

"I should go." Jessie finally said, when she didn't get any response from Katie. She was a bit worried, that maybe she offended her, that maybe she crossed the line too soon. She probably freaked her out. Jessie wished it wasn't the case. Leaving would be her only option for now. There are things she needs to think about anyway. Like that kiss in the lake…

Jessie walked away in deep thought, wondering why she kissed the brunette with that much passion back at the lake. Kiss was a part of her plan, but the feelings that went along with it was something she never expected to feel. She felt so confused right now, she couldn't focus on anything…

"I'm not sorry either…" Katie called after her, just when Jessie reached the bedroom door. Jessie turned around so she could see the other's face. She waited for Katie to continue. And Katie did.

"Stay with me tonight." Said Katie's gentle voice, giving Jessie a smile.

Jessie didn't have to think twice.

"Okay." Jessie replied, returning Katie's smile.

It was already dark outside. The rest of the DEBS top squad had been at the stake out for more than eight hours. They should be back at the base for a debriefing, but Jessie couldn't even be contacted. They were positive that Jessie was back at the lakehouse with Katie, but they haven't heard a single feedback from Jessie hidden camera or from her communicator.

"Anything?" Max asked Janet impatiently. It was the hundredth time she asked that question. Janet had been working on her computer, trying to find ways to contact Jessie, but Jessie's radio only emits static sounds.

"Nothing." Janet sighed.

"What's her status?" Max turned to Dominique.

"Still inside." Dominque yawned.

"What the hell are you doing, Sammler?" Max muttered under her breath. She was tired, she was angry, and she was impatient. If Jessie makes them stay at the stake out until morning, she's so gonna regret it.

Back at the lakehouse, Jessie and Katie are lying on the bed together, side by side, but neither could fall asleep. Both were lost in the same thoughts. Both were asking the same question…

_WHAT IS GOING ON?_

Jessie had her back turned on Katie, while Katie was facing Jessie's back. She had been staring at the blonde for quite some time now. Jessie could feel Katie's eyes on her, but that isn't really her concern right now. She was feeling some sort or urge, a need… She needs to be closer to Katie. She just had to…

"Will you hold me?" Jessie spoke, which surprised Katie a bit. She thought Jessie had already fallen asleep. And was a bit mortified that she was caught wide awake.

"What?"

"Just hold me…"

"Yeah… Sure…" Katie smiled and moved closer behind Jessie. Reluctant for a moment, Katie then wrapped her right arm around Jessie. Unknown to her, Jessie smiled. Then Jessie leaned back into Katie's embrace.

_Being this close to someone had never felt this good… _They both had the same thought in their heads…


	7. Dilemma

**A/N: I'm sorry I took a long time updating again… Your lonesome loser author is currently feeling so down lately, my heart was broken a million times over… And I'm yet to put the pieces back together… Hope you guys would understand… So, here's the seventh chapter… SHOUT OUT TO BBVANCOOL, where's the fourth chapter of Sharing the Life? I just granted your request, now how about mine? HAHAHA…**

**CHAPTER 7DILEMMA**

"How low could you go?" Max growled after Jessie as both of them stormed into their base that early Sunday morning. Dominique and Janet followed, both careful not to meddle with the conversation, rather argument, between the former and the present captain.

"What?" Jessie turned around immediately when they reached the living room, and was now facing Max with a big frown on her face.

"Getting close to Katie Singer to get information about Lucy is one thing, but sleeping with her is just so low. You'd really do anything to get to Lucy, don't you? Even if it means sacrificing your own dignity." Max snarled at Jessie. Jessie paused for a while, and let out a deep breath. She didn't want to blow up on Max right now. It was early morning for God's sake, and she's not in the mood for an argument. Sure, Max is getting into her nerves again, but she's going to calm herself down as long as she can.

"Seduction 101: there are no limits in seduction. So drop the dignity talk, Brewer, it's part of the job. And just so you know, I didn't sleep with her." Jessie headed to her room, but Max followed.

"You didn't?" Max repeated while arching her right eyebrow, but was not believing it for a moment.

"What, are you deaf?" Jessie let out an impatient sigh.

"So that explains the clothes, huh?" Max eyed Jessie from head to foot. Jessie, remembering that she was wearing Katie's clothes, felt her face blushing for a bit. Then frowned at Max.

"I fell on the lake and wet my clothes… And damaged the gadgets." It was only that morning when Jessie realized her communicator wasn't working anymore, and also, her camera. She knew Max would give her a hard time on this, but her squad at least deserve to know what happened to her.

"You're such an idiot." Max shakes her head in disbelief. Jessie's expression became formal. They didn't notice that Dominique and Janet followed them until they reached Jessie's bedroom. They were standing by the door, while Max and Jessie were already inside.

"Take that back." Jessie said in authority.

"No." Max matched Jessie's seriousness, then crossed her arms. Dominique and Janet exchanged looks. Jessie made steps towards Max, but Max didn't flinch. They were almost a feet apart, and the other DEBS were ready to pull them away from each other just in case Jessie decides to lash on Max.

"Take that back." Jessie calmly repeated. Max paused, but didn't apologize.

"You knew better than destroying thousands of dollars worth of gadgets."

"I said I fell on the lake." Jessie was having a hard time controlling herself. "Don't worry, I'll make the report, and Ms. Petrie will surely understand."

"Oh I'm sure. And I'm sure she'll understand why you stayed overnight with the subject too." Max said sarcastically. A grin formed in Jessie's face.

"She will… Janet, check out these celphone numbers and to whom all of these beongs to. If you find a suspicious number, report to me immediately." Jessie handed a small piece of paper to Janet. Different numbers were scribbled hastily on it. Janet made steps to their direction and reached for the paper. And Max had a guess.

Jessie managed to steal the numbers stored in Katie's celphone, including the received and dialed numbers.

_Shit… _Max cursed.

"And when you're done, give the paper back to me." Jessie added. "So, if you'll excuse me, I need to change." Giving Max a fake smile, Max had no choice but to leave the room. When they were gone, Jessie closed the door.

At the lakehouse, Katie was currently cooking breakfast. She would have cooked earlier, but Jessie was gone when she woke up. She was a bit disappointed, but Jessie left a note saying that she was sorry she wasn't even able to say goodbye, but will try to make it up to her next time. And Katie was satisfied with that. Then there were the knocks on her door. She headed to get it.

"Tad?" Katie frowned.

"You sound disappointed." Tad said, then walked past by Katie and headed to the kitchen.

"I thought you were somebody else. You don't usually knock, and I'm surprised that you did." Katie followed him.

"Well, I don't want to intrude, just in case he's still here." Tad grinned wickedly at Katie. Katie frowned.

"Who?" She has no idea what Tad was talking about.

"Oh come on Katie. Last night's date? You didn't want me to come over." Tad reminded her. Right, she forgot to tell him it wasn't a date, and it wasn't a guy. Katie paused and decided not to answer the question. She continued cooking her breakfast, and Tad sat on a nearby chair, watching Katie.

"Why are you here?" Katie frowned.

"I'm here to have my breakfast. Homemade pancakes are the best, especially when you're the one who made it." Tad couldn't wait. He was really hungry. Katie rolls her eyes.

"You should start paying me for this." Katie jokes. Then, putting a stack of pancakes on a plate for Tad, she put it in front of him on the table, and gave him a cup of brewed coffee.

"I am, that's why we're meeting my dad at the restaurant tonight. He and my mom just arrived, and they're ready to talk about the investment you want to make." Tad smiles.

"Really? That's great." Katie said excitedly. She then sat opposite Tad, with her ownplate of pancakes and a cup of brewed coffee in front of her.

"Yup… So, how was your date?" Tad steered the conversation back to Katie's date. Katie frowned at him.

"I thought we're over that?"

"We haven't even started. Come on Katie, spill. I'm your bestfriend. You used to tell me everything about your dates. What's so special about this one?" Tad stuffed a forfkful of pancakes into his mouth, talking while munching his food. Katie had gotten used to him eating and talking at the same time.

"I didn't say it was special. And it's not a date."

"Then, why are you blushing?" Tad grins. Katie's cheeks are indeed turning bright red.

"What? I don't blush." Katie growled at him in defense, though she could really feel her face burning.

"Do you want to bet on it?"

"Tad, how many times to I have to say? It wasn't a date." Katie was starting to grow irritated on Tad. Well, he always irritates her.

"Then just tell me something."

"I just enjoy being with her, okay?" Katie slipped unconsciously, and a smile apparently forms in her face. Tad suddenly stops munching and looked dumbstruck. He stared at Katie wide-eyed for a while before Katie even noticed.

"What?" Katie frowns after noticing Tad's expression.

"What did you say?"

"You heard me."

"HER?" Tad repeated, emphasizing the pronoun.

"What?" Katie was suddenly knocked back into her senses.

"You said HER."

"I did?" Katie feigns innocence. Tad stares at her, without blinking for so long. Katie couldn't even look at him in the eyes. Then she hears him laughing.

"What the hell are you laughing about?" Katie pretends she was becoming angry, but knows her acting was going very well.

"So you took my advice, you tried it?" Tad asks in amusement.

"What advice?"

"To start dating girls. So, did she make your heart race? Who is she?" Tad mocks Katie, and he was starting to get into the girl's nerves. But Katie knows hitting him wouldn't stop him in teasing her.

"I said it wasn't a date!" Katie yells at Tad, but Tad wasn't a bit intimidated. Tad examines Katie's blushing face for a while.

"A bit defensive, aren't we?" Tad was thinking about who the possible girl was. "Who is it?" Tad wouldn't stop until she finds out who that girl was.

"Why would I tell you?"

"I'm your bestfriend. I deserve to know."

"Forget it, I'm not telling you."

"Did you kiss her?" Tad grins again. Katie rolls her eyes, grabs her plate and cup and heads to her room. Tad follows her.

"That's not up for conversation." Katie ignores him.

"Oh my God, you did1" Tad screams excitedly. "How did it feel?" Katie stops walking and turns around, throwing Tad with a look of disbelief.

"I can't believe you're asking me that."

"Why not?"

"Because it's stupid. Now leave me alone, Tad." Katie continues walking to her room and slams the door.

"I'll pick you up tonight Katie!" Tad screams behind the door, and his footsteps could be heard going back to the kitchen. Katie shakes her head. Tad is really a handful. She put her plate on the nightstand, and the cup beside it. She sits on her bed, and a smile slowly forms in hr face. Her eyes shifted to the bed, which was still unmade. She stares at the side where Jessie was sleeping just a few hours ago. She definitely had a great night…

On the other side of the city, the DEBS are worried like hell…

Janet was sitting in front of her laptop computer inside her bedroom. She had been sitting in front of it, hacking on the computer systems of all the telephone and celphone networks in Barcelona. Dominique and Max are standing on either side of her.

"Guys…" Janet called, while she fixed her eyes on her laptop, and continues working on her task.

"What?" Max answers rather impatiently. She was obviously agitated, something that doesn't happen often.

"What are we going to do if something turns up?" Janet asks worriedly. Jessie had scribbled down every number that was stored in Katie's celphone and home phone directory.

"Then, Sammler's not going to know." Max said firmly. Dominique shifted her eyes on Max.

"But what if she double checks? She does want her list back. And you know her. She's just waiting for us to do something wrong." Dominique was more worried for themselves now than Lucy and Amy. She knew those two. They would do every precautionary measure to make sure they'll be safe from the authorities. Amy is the Perfect Score after all. She knew the DEBS will probably trail after them eventually. Lucy Diamond is still a wanted criminal.

"Then we're off to Siberia." Max gruffed. She's hating her friends' negativity right now. Well, she's been feeling the same lately but had been trying her best not to show it. Who's gonna stand up for Amy and Lucy if not her? Janet frowns while her eyes were still fixed on the monitor of her laptop.

"I don't think I can live without diet coke and tissues…" Janet sighs. She had been trying to hack on the system of one of the celphone networks in Barcelona for five minutes now but she keeps on failing. Their encryption was unbelievable state-of-the-art. Not that Janet couldn't handle it, it's just taking her longer than she would have tolerated.

"We're gonna be halfway underneath Antarctica before they could even say 'wanted'. We are going to protect Amy and Lucy, no matter what the cost is." Max is becoming more and more impatient.

"I think I'd rather be incarcerated in Siberia…" Janet continues. She loves wearing cashmere sweaters and would probably survive in living on top of Mt. Everest, she has no problem with snow, but going underneath Antarctica just isn't for her. She's a bit scared of the ocean. Some sort of phobia since when she was younger. Max rolls her eyes.

"I didn't mean I literally. Gosh, you got to fix those loose screws in your head, Janet. You can be a total idiot sometimes. And no one's going to be incarcerated. Just do your thing, okay? If something comes up, then we'll figure out what to do. No need to worry now." Max said hurriedly. Janet continues hacking and after another minute, she was able to pass through the system of the current celphone network she was working on.

"I'm in." Janet informs the others. Dominique and Max stares at the screen with much interest. Janet punches in the numbers that belongs to the said networks and starts searching.

Katie isn't very interested about going out that night to eat at a restaurant with Tad. There was nothing exciting about her bestfriend at all, and the only reason why she's getting out of the house was meeting Tad's parents for the stock investments she is planning to do for Lucy. If it wasn't for that, she would have stayed home and watch tv all night, or dream about Jessie all morning…

_Did I just think that again? _Katie chuckles to herself. She is starting to accept that she isn't just having crazy ideas. She is interested with Jessie. Actually, she likes Jessie. More than a girl should like another girl…

Tad's Porsche pulled over in front of a very fancy restaurant in the center of the city. A valet greets them as both of them climbs out of the car. Tad hands his keys to the valet, and walks into the restaurant side by side with Katie. Katie had chose to wear a really nice, blue evening dress. Very formal. But knowing the reputation of the restaurant they were going to, she couldn't let herself wear just anything. Tad is looking respectable and handsome himself, while wearing a very expensive Armani tux. They both look as if they are going to attend the Academy Awards, but hey, can you blame rich people going to dinner? That's just their way of life. Though Katie is more like a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl. After a short walk to the restaurant, Katie immediately spots Tad's parents waving enthusiastically at them. She smiles at them, and walks to their table with Tad.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Pincus." Katie smiled her very charming smile, which got Tad's old man smiling.

"Hello Katie, please have a seat." Mr. Pincus motioned to the seat opposite him. The waiter pulls the chair for Katie, and she whispers a thanks after sitting down. Then, Tad occupies the seat beside hr.

"Thank you." Katie replies politely. Mr. and Mrs. Pincus smiles at each other.

"So, dad, can we order now? I'm really hungry." Tad said. Chuckling at her bestfriend's insensitivity, he hadn't even said hello to his parents, she gives him a slight poke on his side. Tad scowls at her mockingly which didn't escape his parent's eyes, and they actually found their exchange cute.

"Okay then." Mr. Pincus turns to the waiter and places his order, his wife placing the same. Tad then orders, already knowing what he wants to eat before even looking at the menu. Katie took a while before ordering. When the waiter finally got all of their orders, Mr. Pincus turns his attention back to Katie, who was looking extra beautiful tonight.

"You look great, Katie." Mr. Pincus said, Mrs. Pincus nodding in agreement. Katie slightly blushed while Tad rolled his eyes.

"Thank you. You look incredibly handsome tonight too, Mr. Pincus, and you look really beautiful, Mrs. Pincus." Katie isn't lying. Tad's parents even look younger than their real age.

"I'm glad you found the time to have dinner with us." Mrs. Pincus finally spoke. The elderly woman was very elegant even in the way she speaks. Tad definitely didn't get his manners from her.

"Mom, she has nothing to do in her life. She lounges around, and if she has time, she swims with the sharks." Tad laughs. Katie frowns at him.

"Oh, he's actually talking about himself." Katie throws back at Tad. And as usual, the Pincus's are finding them really adorable.

Back at the base of the DEBS, the three had finally fun all the numbers down in all their respective telephone and celphone networks, but nothing unusual came up. Every number checked out, belonging to real and existing persons, no one fictitious. There's no reason to suspect that Lucy and Amy are hiding in one of those numbers.

Jessie was sitting silently on the living room couch, her eyes focused on nothing in particular. She was lost in her own mixed thoughts of the last couple of days. Since she arrived in Barcelona, it seems like the life she left in Los Angeles had suddenly became a distant memory. Not that she had an actual life in LA. She was mostly work, then studies, then studies again. Jessie isn't exactly anti-social, you can't be anti-social when you're pursuing espionage as a career. She's just not much of a people person.

"Hey…" Janet's voice came from opposite her. Jessie looks up, and find the DEB smiling in front of her.

"Hey." Jessie smiles back. Janet walks over to her and hands her something. It was the piece of paper where she scribbled the numbers from Katie's celphone and phone book. Jessie reaches for it. Janet sits beside her.

"We searched every number."

"And?" Jessie asks. Janet pauses before looking at Jessie.

"Everything checked out. Complete with real address, personal information, and supporting information from the Barcelona Citizens Database. We can drop by every address to make sure Lucy and Amy are---"

"Okay." Jessie answers. She wasn't focusing on Janet anymore 'coz she let herself get carried away with her nonsense thoughts again. Janet watches her curiously. Jessie was practically drifting unconsciously away from the conversation. Jessie isn't the type who loses focus. Especially when it comes to catching Lucy Diamond.

"What?" Janet asks in disbelief.

"I said okay, I believe you." Jessie looks back at Janet with a sincere smile. Janet couldnt believe her eyes. Jessie isn't as cold as a zombie after all.

"But I thought you'd---"

"I believe you, Janet." She looks straight into Janet's eyes. Janet finally smiles back.

"Uhm... Are you hungry? Do you want to go out and get something to eat?" Janet asks her. She had been feeling hungry herself, but Max and Dominique had gone out on their own doing their own surveillance thing to find Amy and Lucy. She had been left alone to keep Jessie from suspecting anything.

"Yeah... Sure." Jessie answers and follows Janet when she gets up from the couch, and Jesie went to get her car keys.

Back at the fancy restaurant, Tad is becoming bored at his parent's constant praises on Katie. It makes him want to run away really fast.

"Dad, can you guys just talk about business now? I thought that's why we're here, and you haven't mentioned anything about since since we arrived and we've finished the main course already. Can't you see Katie's growing impatient?" Tad said huffily. Katie scowls at her bestfriend's disrespect, but his parents didn't seem to mind.

"No I'm not." Katie turns to the Pincus's. "I'm sorry about your son. He can be a real jerk sometimes."

"Oh, don't mind him, Katie. Let's just pretend that he doesn't exist." Mr. Pincus jokes. Katie chuckles. Tad rolls his eyes.

"Katie, sweetheart, we are not going to bother with the hazardous details of stock investments. Why don't you just tell us how much you want to invest then we can take it from there?" Mrs. Pincus interejected.

"Really? Wow, thanks. I appreciate that." Katie smiles politely.

"That's good then. Since you're a friend of my son, we'll do our best to expedite the processing of the documents. Welcome to the company, Katie." Mr. Pincus gets up from his seat and walks around the table just to give Katie a hug. Tad couldn't help but roll his eyes again.

"Dad, she IS my friend, and we're never gonna be more than friends." Tad pretends to be having goosebumps, which gets Katie laughing. The Pincus's merely ignores him.

"So, when do you plan to get married?" Mr. Pincus's question comes out of the blue that almost made Katie spit her drink. That would have been a disaster. Tad and Katie exchanged horrified looks, and Katie gets up from her seat.

"Excuse me for a moment, I need to go to the ladies' room." Katie fakes a smile and hurries to the restroom.

At the time, Jessie and Janet were walking the busy streets of Barcelona, trying out the different street foods available. It was the first time, since they have arrived at the beautiful city, that they were actually able to go out and explore it.

"This is so amazing." Jessie said in disbelief.

"You said it." Janet couldn't believe her own eyes. Barcelona was even prettier at night.

"I can't believe I'm only seeing all of this now. We've been here like what, a week?" Jessie continued.

"More than a week... What, you didn't know how good it feels to get away from work once in a while?" Janet jokes. Jessie just smiles but doesn't answer. "Have you always been a workaholic?"

"I'm not a workaholic."

"That's exactly what a workaholic would say." Janet said that made Jessie laugh. "It's a way for some people to cope with grief or loneliness. It's their way to fill the emptiness in their life, the void that they are..." Janet trails off upon finding Jessie staring at her.

Janet makes an immediate step back, ready to run away in case Jessie decides to kick her ass.

"What, why did you stop?" Jessie asks in disappointment. Janet was, of course, fearing for her life.

"Nothing, forget it." Janet continued walking. Jessie follows.

"Wait, finish it. You were saying something. You think I'm in pain, that I'm lonely and looking for something to fill my empty life? Is that how you guys perceive me?" Jessie asks in interest.

"Uhm..." Janet clears her throat. Jessie chuckles. She gets it now. Janet is apparently afraid of her. She stops walking, grabs Janet's right arm and pulls her to a nearby bench. They had reached the park without realizing it.

"Is that how you guys see me? That I'm in pain and lonely? Aren't we all, in one way or another?"

"Well, aside being scary, yeah, I think you're pained and lonely." Janet said slowly, as Jessie makes her sit on the bench. Jessie sits beside her and chuckles when Janet mentions the scary part.

"I didn't mean to scare you."

"None taken." Janet laughs nervously. It was nice t see this better side of Jessie.

"It's just part of the job, you know. I wasn't dreaming of getting bullied by you guys. So, I might as well be the one bullying you, right?" Jessie chuckles. "I mean, I was appointed to captain the DEBS top squad, and I was a rookie. Didn't it cross your mind that it scared the hell out of me too? You've been together for a long time, and I knew my entrance to the squad as an inexperienced captain wouldn't be pleasant because of the politics, and guess what, I was right, especially with Max. And I understand how she feels, and how you guys feel, but I need to do my job." Jessie explains. She isn't sure why she's being honest with Janet. But being able to finally talk to someone in the squad feels really good.

"Yeah, I get it. But you don't have to be so harsh." Janet jokes.

"Comes with the territory..." Jessie said. "You know, I have nothing against Amy Bradshaw, but she did break the law, so I'm sorry. But we are going to catch her." Jessie looks apologetically at Janet. Janet forces a smile, her heartbeat doubling upon hearing the 'catching Amy' part. Jessie's eyes then falls on something else at the park. It was the small flower stand not so far away from them.

Jessie felt suddenly cheery and grabs Janet's arm again, pulling her to the flower stand.

"Jessie, where are you dragging me?" Janet scurries behind Jessie. Jessie then stops excitedly in front of the flowers and her hands gets a hold of the nice bouquet of gardenias.

"What do you think?"

"Huh?" Janet frowns.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Jessie lifts the bouquet and brings it near Janet for the other to examine.

"Uh, yeah." Janet replied. Jessie then pulls some bills from her purse and hands the money to the old Spanish guy, whom Janet assumed as the owner of the stand. Jessie pulls out her celphone from her pocket and dials a number.

Back at the restaurant... Katie hadn't gotten back from the ladies' room.

"Mom, Dad, for the millionth time, Katie and I are never gonna work. Seriously, she's like my sister!" Tad said slowly to his parents, hoping that they'd finally get it. But all he keeps getting are their smiles.

"Sweetheart, maybe you need to tone down your rough manners. Katie will come around, believe me." Mrs. Pincus smiled that nauseating smile, Tad wanted to puke.

_This is hopeless... _Tad shakes his head. Then, a celphone rings. The Pincus's simultaneously pulled out each of their celphones, only to realize it wasn't any of theirs. Tad's head turns to the ringing phone, which was rested on top of the table in front of Katie's chair. Katie forgot to bring her cel when she made a dash to the ladies' room. Tad picks it up before his parents could stop him.

"Hello?" Tad spoke, but the line goes dead...

At the Barcelona Park, Janet notices Jessie's dumbstruck look, after the blonde suddenly hangs up her phone.

"Are you okay?"

"Huh?" Jessie turns to Janet.

"You look like you've seen a ghost." Janet said.

"I called Katie and a guy answered the phone." Jessie replied. Janet looks at her, waiting for her to continue, 'coz she couldn't see anything surprising about that. Katie had dated a lot of guys, she could be on a date now.

"You called Katie?" Janet was more surprised upon finding that out.

"Yeah... Forget it. It's probably just one of her one-time dates." Jessie said without much energy, and starts walking away. Janet follows her but observes her curiously from behind.

At the restaurant...

"Hello?" Tad shakes his head. "So rude." He whispered to himself as the other person on the line hung up. He then checked out the received calls, and found the name... His eyes widens upon finding the name of the caller.

_Jessie? Amazing blonde hair and stunning blue eyes Jessie? _Tad's jaw drops, and grin forms on his face. Just then, Katie comes back to the table.

"Sorry I took so long." Katie apologized to everyone in the table. The elders smile, but there was something so wicked about Tad's look that didn't escape her eyes. She knew he has something up his sleeve.

"Do you like my hair?" Tad asks Katie while he stifles a laugh. Katie frowns.

_Great, here we go again... _Katie sighs, trying to be patient.

"It's fine, Tad." Katie answers. It's not like she give a shit about Tad's hair. He could color his hair orange and she couldn't care less.

"Do you want me to dye it blonde?" Tad grins at her. Katie looks at him suspicously.

"What?"

"I already have blue eyes, so the blonde hair would probably work, right honey?" Tad jokes, and Katie looks at him in wide-eyed horror.

"WHAT?" Katie's voice rises to a higher octave. Tad grabs her left hand and excused themselves.

"Mom, Dad, we got to go. Thanks for dinner." Tad pulls her out of the restaurant before Katie could even complain. Upon reaching the lobby, the valet brought Tad's Porsche around and they climbed in. The had been driving for a few minutes, and Katie had been staring at Tad in disbelief.

"HONEY?" Katie chastised her bestfriend for calling her 'honey'. Just hearing it from Tad gives her some sort of unpleasant chill. It if wasn't for the parents, she would have already gave Tad the worst beating in his life for calling her 'honey'.

"It's amazing blonde hair and stunning blue eyes, wasn't it?" Tad grins while driving.

"What?" Katie frowns again, but a bit surprised by Tad's correct assumption.

"Your date last night, it was Jessie."

"I said it wasn't a date." Katie repeated for the thousandth time.

"Whatever you say, Katie. Can I tell you something?"

"It's not like I can stop you, so go ahead." Katie shrugs.

"I used to have a crush on you when we were in gradeschool." Tad laughs. He couldn't believe he actually had a crush on Katie back then. She wasn't even pretty back in the days.

"Really? Euww…"

"That's what I thought. Then you harbored this insatiable appetite for men, which majorly turned me off, until you realized you're actually developing this insatiable appetite for women now, which turned me back on again." He jokes. Katie hits him hard on the shoulder.

"Chill Katie, I'm driving."

"You really are disgusting, Tad."

"Thanks." Tad laughs.

"Turn left." Katie commands him.

"What?"

"Turn left. We're going somewhere." Katie smiles.

"Where?" Tad narrows his eyes on Katie.

"My sister's."

"What? It's---"

"Just do as I say, Tad, if you don't want to get hurt." Katie grins confidently. She knows Tad would give in. But Tad was a bit hesitant. It was as if he's more worried that somebody could follow them. But Katie's Katie, and he knows better not to piss her off. Not even when she looks this happy.

On their way to Lucy and Amy's, Katie still couldn't think of how Tad managed to make a correct guess as to who she was with last night…

_But it wasn't a date… _Katie repeated to herself. She wanted to believe that it was, but she knew it wasn't. They were just friends hanging out on a weekend together.

After another twenty minutes of driving, Katie and Tad finally reached their destination. Stopping the Porsche in front of the house, Katie immediately climbed out of the car and headed for the door. Before she could even knock, it opened, revealing the gorgeous master criminal on her ladies boxer shorts and tank top. Tad's jaw apparently drops at the sight of Katie's sister.

"Nice dress… You guys going to prom?" Lucy looks amused upon seeing her sister and the bestfriend. They were standing in her doorway, wearing a gown and a tux respectively.

"Ha-ha, get out of the way, Lucy, or you're not getting pizza." Katie gruffs at her pizza-deprived sister and walks past by her. Lucy looks delighted and snatches the box of pizza from Tad and opens it as soon as she puts it down the coffee table. She picks up a slice and hands it to her girlfriend, who was sitting on the couch in the living room watching tv, and looking very sexy in her own sleeping clothes which was less suggestive, and then, Lucy picks up a slice for herself. Tad follows the sisters to the living room, unbelieving the sigh that was in front of him.

_Two hot lesbians in their super-lover costumes… How did I get so lucky? _Tad's grin grows wider as he takes the seat next to Katie on the couch, opposite the DEB and the former criminal. Katie notices the mischievous look Tad was giving her sister, and was pretty sure of what thoughts were currently swirling in his head. She then gives her bestfriend a slap on the back of his head.

"What now?" Tad rubs the back of his aching head.

"Stop drooling." Katie growls at him, shaking her head.

"I wasn't---" Tad knows defending himself would be of no use, 'coz telling the truth or not, Katie wouldn't believe him. Well, he never tells the truth anyway. But it was worth a shot to save himself from the embarrassment he was getting right now.

"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. It's practically written on your forehead." Katie rolls her eyes, and turns her attention back to Amy and Lucy.

"Sorry, he's retarded." Katie smiles at Amy, and Amy chuckles.

"Leave the poor guy alone, Kat. Fantasizing is the only thing he could ever do with us anyway." Lucy grins, having her own fun at poking embarrassment at the only guy in the room. Finally, Katie looks at her sister, and sees that Lucy was eating like she had never eaten in months.

"You eat like an animal." Katie looks repulsed.

"I am an animal. The highest form of mammal for that matter." Lucy tried to sound smart. Katie had always been the brains. It's nice to make yourself feel like you're the bright one sometimes. Amy turns her head, on the verge of laughing.

"Lucy, you hardly look the part." Katie was referring to the 'highest form' part of Lucy's statement. She was in the mood to tick Lucy off.

"Katie, do you really want to get hurt?" Lucy says in mock threat, but doesn't stop devouring the mouth-watering pizza on her hand. Before she could even finish her first slice, she was already considering which slice to eat next.

"You don't scare me." Katie chuckles whilst shaking her head. She then leans against the couch, making herself comfy since she arrived. The clothes isn't making her feel any comfortable, but she was in a very good mood to even complain.

"So, what's with the dress code?" Amy finally changes the subject. She had been eyeing Katie beautiful dress since she arrived. She had always loved wearing one of those, makes her feel elegant. Her mind subconsciously wandered with thoughts of herself wearing the same style, only hers was white…

_White? _Amy chuckles to herself… She had been through lots of relationships before, but not once did she ever dream of wearing a white gown and walking the aisle to meet that special person on the other end of that red carpet. Until she met Lucy…

"Oh, we just felt like wearing it, you know, for a change." Tad jokes, then picks his own slice of pizza, not taking his eyes away from Lucy as he takes a bite.

"You guys are weird." Lucy shakes her head, trying to decide why she's letting these two stay in the house longer than they are allowed to. They shouldn't even be there now. It was against their rules. Katie was only supposed to visit on weekends, at dawn.

"Didn't I tell you he's retarded?" Katie laughs and Tad frowns at her.

"We had dinner at the hotel with his parents." Katie continued, only to make Lucy stop munching her pizza, to give them a suspicious look. Katie reaches for a can of coke Tad had put down the coffee table near the box of pizza and opened one for herself. Not hearing a reply from her sister, Katie looks up, to meet Lucy's not-so-pleased look.

Okay, so Tad's a good friend, he's even good-looking, but that doesn't mean Lucy would approve if this toad stars dating her sister.

"It's just a meeting about your stock investments. God, you're so paranoid." Katie said, refuting Lucy's suspicions before she could even accuse them of anything. Tad was grins. He was so used to having people think of him and Katie as a couple, and it sounds funny everytime.

"You know, just because a guy and a girl gets inside a car together, doesn't mean they're dating." Tad shakes his head at Lucy, only to have her throw him a scowl.

"Besides, she's dating someone seriously now, and I'm too hot to be monogamous." Tad said self-assuredly. Amy had gotten used to his half-truth boastings, so she just found it funny now.

"Someone who?" Lucy's interest shot from fifty to one hundred percent. She gives Tad a who-the-hell-is-it look, but Tad merely shrugs. He would have answered right away, only if he didn't feel Katie's strong nudging on his side. One wrong answer and he's getting a bruise. Katie smiles at Lucy, before heading off to the kitchen to get some water. Lucy throws another questioning look at Tad, and he shrugs just the same, not wanting to give the information away, or Katie would kill him. Let's just say that he's more scared of the younger law student than the older master criminal. Pretty ironic.

Lucy looks at Amy, but Amy just gives her an assuring smile. Lucy gets up from the couch, and follows Katie to the kitchen. She finds her drinking a glass of water.

"Are you gonna tell me about?" Lucy said from behind Katie, at the same time, crossing her arms.

"Nope." Katie grins, then takes another sip of her water.

"Why not?" Lucy whines.

"Because there's nothing to tell." Katie answered dismissively, but the smile didn't disappear from her pretty face. She puts her glass down the sink, but instead of going back to the living room, she remained standing there, meeting Lucy's gaze.

"So, what Tad was saying is just another one of your meaningless conquests?" Lucy immediately assumed. That's very typical of her sister anyway. Yup, make the guys drool. That's what she does best.

"It wasn't meaningless… And it wasn't a date. God, how many times do I have to reiterate that to Tad? Now I'm starting to think he's really retarded. I should get him an appointment with a psychiatrist." Katie said defensively.

"So, if it wasn't meaningless, then it must be meaningful?" Lucy asked, sounding hopeful. She doesn't know much about Katie's love life. She only knows a thing or two. And she'd really love to know more, be a part of Katie's life once again.

"Could be…" Katie looks up to meet Lucy's eyes, them smiles. Lucy couldn't help but notice. Katie must have found someone really special.

"Well, are you going to tell me more or are you just gonna keep me guessing until I catch you two having sex on your couch?" Lucy jokes, which makes Katie blush deep red. She had never thought about sex (though the sexual tension between her and Jessie is undeniable) since she admitted to herself that she's actually attracted to a girl. And now that Lucy opened up that possibility, Katie feels suddenly scared and excited at the same time.

"Katie?"

"Huh?" Katie shakes her out of her daze.

"You're already having sex on your couch, aren't you?" Lucy narrows her eyes on Katie, which makes the other brunette react so defensively. Katie suddenly contorts her face into wide-eyed disbelief.

"What? No! You're such a perv, Lucy…" Katie growls at Lucy.

_Should I tell her that Tad's talking about Jessie, and that Jessie is a girl? _Ktaie couldn't decide.

"So, tell me about him then, What's he like? What does he do? Is he a good person? Where did you guys meet?" Lucy walks to the table's direction and pulls a chair for Katie as she torpedoed the dreamy-looking brunette with questions. Katie looks at it and contemplates if she's going to sit down and have this talk with Lucy, or just go back to the living room and save Amy the headache of being left alone with Tad. Katie decides on the former. Lucy then pulls a chair for herself, opposite Katie.

_So she thinks it's a guy… _Katie lets out a sigh. She never realized it would be too hard coming out to her own sister… _Wait, coming out? I'm not even gay…_ Katie's confusion grown more and more every minute, along with thoughts of Jessie.

"I don't really know what to tell you." Katie admits. She is feeling a lot for Jessie. Some of those she couldn't even describe. Being with the blonde makes her feel things she hadn't felt before. She wasn't even aware that such feelings exist.

"You can start by telling me his name." Lucy says grinning. Katie might be the brilliant one, but she's not very good in the relationship department. The younger girl couldn't even take her former relationships seriously. That's why people often misunderstood her. But Lucy was fully aware of what Katie was looking for. Katie focuses her eyes on Lucy, debating with herself whether it's the right time to tell her sister about Jessie or not. Realizing that Katie wasn't about to tell her the name of this special 'guy', Lucy continued.

"Or, you can just tell me anything. What does he do?" Lucy followed up. Katie still didn't talk. She sat on the chair, thinking about Jessie and the way she smiles. Just thinking about the blonde makes her smile. Lucy sees the smile that formed on Katie's face, which makes her smile herself. The person that her sister met was heaven sent.

"You know, this is so weird…" Katie chuckles at herself. She never imagined herself talking to Lucy about dating. She never imagined herself talking to Lucy about anything serious at all. Well, for one, she never imagined Lucy would be dropping her life of crime and come back to her life one day. Katie leans against the back of her chair, now staring at the empty table.

"Yeah, you look weird." Lucy jokes then laughs. Katie throws her a mock look of disdain, then laughs herself eventually.

"Have you ever met someone, and felt as if you've known that person forever? You mirror each other's thoughts, you dream of the same things, and you laugh at the same jokes…" Katie says dreamily, her eyes literally twinkling as she looks up at Lucy and the light reflects the green of her eyes.

"I have." Lucy returns a smile, with Amy in her mind. Katie was looking at her, but she knows her sister isn't really seeing her. Katie has that faraway look, like she's seeing someone else. Katie chuckles at her silliness again. Why did she even have to ask? Lucy's life is all about Amy now.

"I was beginning to believe that maybe, Tad was right… Romantic movies are exaggerated, and love is overrated. That all you have to do is run to make your heart race… Then this person comes along, and allows me to believe in something again…"

"Are you happy?" It was all that matter to Lucy: Katie's happiness.

"Have you seen someone smile, and that alone made very sad feeling in your heart disappear? You don't have to use words to make a connection because somehow, even before, you're already connected. Like God made a blueprint of your life and the star have connived to bring you two together at the same place, at the same time. And when you look at that person's eyes, you can see that person's soul… And then you'd feel that magical feeling in your heart you've never felt before…" Katie unconsciously used 'that person' instead of just 'her'. Either way, she knows she'd only be referring to one certain blonde.

"So, you are happy…" Lucy was glad to realize that. Katie didn't even have to answer her question. Her long, mushy litany about souls and stars said it all already. She was amused, 'coz Katie never looked so in love before.

In love? Katie didn't say she was in love, and Lucy's sister only met this person so recently. She couldn't be in love. Katie's not the type who falls in love too soon… In fact, she's not the type who falls in love at all. Katie had always been the one who falls in love with the thought of falling in love. Well, she used to. Right now, she was looking otherwise. Anyhow, Lucy was happy for her.

"Life had never felt so great, Lucy." Katie finally looks at Lucy, and sees her. No more faraway look. She wasn't expecting Lucy to understand her. She just wants to let someone know, and that someone might as well be her sister.

"Finally taking someone seriously?" Lucy jokes, half-meaning what she just said. Katie playfully kicks Lucy in the shins under the table that made the older brunette wince in pain.

"Aww! You're such a brat!"

"It's complicated…" Katie continued. The smile didn't totally disappear from Katie's face, but it did change. It changed from dreamy to worried.

"Oh no, don't tell me he's married." Lucy narrows her eyes on Katie again. Katie breaks out into laughter.

"No." Katie answers in amusement. Lucy ponders for a moment, and her eyes widens.

"Please don't tell me he's an eighty year-old business mogul." Lucy frowns and throws a threatening look on Katie. If Katie answers in the affirmative, she was ready to tie and gag her sister and keep her hostage for the rest of her life, or at least until that dirty old business mogul dies.

"What? Lucy, I was asked who would I prefer between Leonardo DiCaprio and Russel Crowe, and I dissed them both, what makes you think I'd prefer someone way older than them?" (FYI: Mischa Barton really dissed the idea of dating both Leo and Russel, she thinks Leo is too old, and Russel isn't that good-looking) Katie shakes her head in disbelief that Lucy would even dare think that.

"Okay… So, he's not married, and he's not old… What makes it so complicated?" Lucy was running different possible complications in her head, but she just couldn't put her hand on one.

_The fact that she's a girl… _Katie wants to say it out loud, but couldn't get herself to. She couldn't understand herself. Why was she so afraid to tell he sister about Jessie, when she knows that of all people, Lucy would probably be the only one who might understand her best. Okay, so Tad knows, and he understands, but he puts too much malice on the idea of her being with another girl, and it makes her feel like he was only accepting it not because he understands, but because he thought it was hot.

"Is he gay?" Lucy said it out of the blue, which makes Katie choke without even drinking anything. She has to clear her throat first before looking back at an expectant Lucy.

_I don't know, am I? _Katie sighs.

"I can't talk about this now." Katie gets up from her chair and heads back to the living room. But before she could reach the kitchen door, Lucy gets up from her own chair.

"Okay… But when you need someone to talk to, I'll be here. You know that, right?' Lucy said hopefully. Katie smiles. She knows Lucy was trying to be the best sister she could ever be, and she's making up for the lost time that they should have spent together.

"I know… Thanks, Lucy." Katie turns around to walk back to the living room, but decides to turn around and face Lucy again.

"But right now, I really don't know where we stand. I mean, me and… You know." Katie still refrained from speaking Jessie's name. She just isn't ready to let Lucy know.

"You did say it was complicated." Lucy smiles at Katie.

"It is… But I'll try to uncomplicate it… Come on, my bestfriend is probably bugging Amy to death by now. Let's go save her." Katie chuckles.

"Good idea." Lucy follows her sister back to the living room.

When Lucy and Katie got back at the living room, Katie was right. Tad was really bugging Amy. If it wasn't for Self-Control 101, one of Amy's most important subjects during her freshman year at the DEBS Academy, she would have already broke Tad's nose into three places, and that would have completely distorted his insanely good-looking face. Well, Amy's temper is normally controlled, but Tad wouldn't stop bugging her with his proposals of taping her and Lucy during their most intimate moments.

It was after two hours of senseless talking and occasional beating of Tad when Katie finally decided to call it a night and go home. She wants to stay, but knew it wasn't a good idea since tomorrow was training day. She was going to meet her swimming coach for a once a week exercise. It was basically just hours of doing lapses, and racing with the other members of the swim team. The work out is keeping her fit, since she eats lots.

Exhausted but happy, Katie went for a bubble bath right after getting back home. She wants to get rid of every thought in her mind, you know, just to relax. Just to find some sort of peace which she normally does when she's alone. It used to work before, but now, one thing remains… Or rather one person…

Images of Jessie keeps flooding her mind. And it wouldn't stop. It was like having a silent movie playing in her own head. Not that it bothers her. Just thinking about that girl from the City of Angels makes her feel like she's literally in heaven…

_Oh God, who would have thought Katie Singer could be so corny? _Katie laughs at herself. So, she couldn't get rid of the thoughts of Jessie, she might as well indulge in it, right? Then Katie remembers the kiss…

It was the kind of kiss you can never compare with anything else. She wasn't sure if it was because Jessie was a good kisser, because Katie had her own fair share of good kissers before, but none felt as intense. The kiss with Jessie was different: softer, electric, unforgettable. It sent shockwaves of pleasure through Katie's entire being, waking her desires…

After another twenty minutes of showering and drying herself up, Katie finally decides to go to bed. When she got into her sleeping clothes and climbed to bed, she turned her lamp off. But she couldn't sleep. So she reached for her celphone, deciding whether or not to call Jessie.

She had been fighting that urge since they parted that morning. It was hard, stopping yourself form doing something you want to do so bad. It's just that she didn't want Jessie to think that she's expecting too much from her. They still haven't discussed the kiss and what it was about.

Meanwhile, at the DEBS base… Jessie and Janet had been talking like good old friends since they got back from their walk at the park. Max and Dominique were surprised seeing the two together, looking like they were actually having a good time with each other.

"But she's not really like that, you know." Jessie debates with Janet while both of them sit on the living room couch, without realizing that Max and Dominique were actually spying on them on the other side of the wall. Well, what can I say, they are spies after all. Jessie isn't sure how or when she and Janet started talking about Katie, but she didn't really mind talking about the very beautiful brunette. She couldn't even get rid of the thoughts of her since she left the lakehouse that morning.

"Yeah right. If rich playgirl isn't so indifferent, she would be in a relationship by now." Janet snorts.

"Just because she's not in a relationship, doesn't mean she's indifferent." Jessie defends Katie.

"How do you explain the hate account in myspace?" Janet narrows her eyes on Jessie. Jessie laughs.

"Let me see… Hmm… Desperate and bitter first dates… Or, envious college girls? Take your pick." Jessie replies in amusement.

"Why are you defending her?" Janet crosses her arms. Jessie looks up at her the smiles. She isn't sure exactly why. But she knows people misunderstood Katie. They are expecting her to date and fall in love, but you just can't force what's not meant to be. You can't.

"Why are you persecuting her? I thought you like her. You're the first one who opposed to the idea of me seducing her."

Katie had been dialing Jessie's number and hanging up a couple of times before it could even ring. She was feeling a desperate longing to hear Jessie's voice, but she wasn't doing very good in trying to control it. Letting out a deep breath, she dialed Jessie's number again. Katie couldn't keep the beating of her heart down. She had never felt so nervous in her life.

"I'm not saying that she's a bad person. It's just that generally, pretty girls are---" Janet was cut off when she hears the loud ringing of a celphone. Jessie then jumps into her feet and reaches for the celphone in the pocket of her jacket. A smile forms in her face upon seeing who it was.

"Excuse me." Jessie storms out of the living room to her bedroom, leaving an open-mouthed Janet behind.

"Let's go spy on her." Max's voice echoes in Janet's right ear that almost made her jump. She didn't realize that the other DEBS had been listening to their conversation.

"How long have you been there?" Janet tried to keep her voice down.

"Since you guys came." Dominique answered for Max. Then Max motions to the direction of Jessie's bedroom. They tiptoed to that direction.

At Jessie's room…

"Hi." Jessie sits on the edge of her bed, smiling like an idiot. The DEBS stops on the door of the room, listening hard on the conversation that was going on in the other side of the door. They could barely hear anything from Jessie, so Dominique makes a quick run to her room and grabs her sonar gadget to help them hear Jessie's voice more clearly.

"_Hey…" _Katie replies, smiling goofily herself on the other line.

"So, what's up?" Jessie tried not to sound too excited about hearing Katie's voice. She was holding her celphone on her left hand and her right hand was playing with the sheets of her bed.

"_Oh, nothing much… Just an interesting night with Tad's parents…"_ Katie chuckles upon remembering what happened at the hotel. The elders just wouldn't give up the idea of her and Tad. It was really funny.

"Tad and his parents?" The smile on Jessie's face creased. Again, she was beginning to hate Tad. Why was Katie spending the night with Tad and his parents anyway? As if feeling the change in Jessie's facial expression, Katie suddenly back pedals.

"_We were just talking about their last business trip… I mean, they are practically by second parents, you know, since my real parents are… You know…" _Katie refrains from saying 'dead'. She just doesn't like talking about them, it's too depressing. She didn't mention the real reason why she met with them, since the investments that she was going to make was supposed to be a secret. Katie isn't sure why she felt the need to explain.

"Right, sorry." Jessie's smile comes back to her face. Then she remembers something.

"So, it must be Tad." Jessie continued.

"_What?" _Katie's brows furrows in the dark. She was currently lying down her bed.

"I tried calling you, but a guy answered, so I hung up." Jessie chuckles at herself. She couldn't believe she chickened out just because a guy answered the phone. Not to mention, it was only Tad.

"_He got your call, and he didn't tell me? I'm so gonna kick his ass tomorrow." _Katie finally realizes how Tad figured out that it was Jessie she was with last night. She hears Jessie laughing on the other line. God, she loves the way she laughs…

"_So, why did you call me?" _Katie continued.

"No reason… Just that I saw a bouquet of gardenias at the park and I remembered you." Jessie said sincerely. She saw the same flowers at Katie's dining table the other day and she actually loved it.

"_Really?" _Katie said, sounding giddy.

"Yeah…"

"_So, how's your day?"_

Outside the door, Max rolls her eyes, getting bored at the conversation Jessie was having with their subject. They know it was Katie on the other line. Janet listens in interest, while Dominique stayed just to fish out some information from Jessie, that they eventually didn't get.

The two just basically talked about nonsense. And the other DEBS wasn't too sure about Jessie's intentions anymore. She was acting like a highschool girl talking to her crush over the phone, not exactly what they expected to hear. They expected flirting and insinuating, not serious and sometimes plain girlfriend-girlfriend talk. Janet was beginning to suspect something else…

This wasn't taught in Seduction 101.


End file.
